


Soothsay

by fourangers



Series: Soothsay [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Kittens, M/M, NaruSasu - Freeform, chef!Naru, slice of life: AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-14 13:34:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5745763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourangers/pseuds/fourangers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto always had a habit to crash in Kiba’s house after a night out. He’d never imagined that in a fateful night, he’d crash in the wrong house…meeting a sarcastic, arrogant bastard and his cute little cats.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stranger encounter

_Kiba dude i'm wasted._

_lemme crash ur house?_

\--

_wtf fine! but be rly quiet_

_I have a surgery tomorrow morning!_

\--

His skull was almost cracking in two, he couldn't feel his mouth and he was sure a stampede of elephants trampled all over his body because even _breathing_ hurt. Those were all clear signs of a terrible hangover that was threatening pull last night's dinner out of his throat. His stomach making weird twists wasn't making matters any simpler either. And my God, the suuuuuuun—it buuuuurns—he squinted his eyes and let out a long sigh, tapping down the familiar twist on his throat by inhaling and exhaling very slowly.

Knowing that it was only a palliative method and he'll have to vomit sooner or later, with a groan, he motioned his upper body to stand. The only problem about it is that for some reason, his body refused to obey him. Damn, he might be more plastered than he thought. With some extra effort, he tried to move again. Nothing.

He attempted to separate his arms when he noticed that his wrists were tied. One eyelid opened in slow, excruciating seconds as he grunted from the blinding light bathing his eyesight, confirming at last that a plastic seal was indeed binding his wrists. He had a nagging suspicion that his legs were bound too, if the constriction of movements was any indication.

With a sigh, he grunted. "Kiba! Alright, you got your laugh, now untie me man!" He threw his head to the back. "C'mon! Don't you have to perform that surgery this morning? Your sister is going to kill you if you arrive late, and the client will sue you if you don't fix their precious dog right away! Time is tickin' man!"

He waited for a few seconds and yelled. "Kiba, man! Untie me, c'mon! I don't know why are you taking so long, it can't be 'cuz I was noisy last night! I'm sure I didn't even bump on anything, I was dead quiet, fuck! I swear to God if you—"

*Meow*

"…meow?" Blue eyes blinked confusedly, noticing that a light weight landed on his stomach. Soft paws strutted through his upper body till he saw the kitten's black face looking at him. The kitten used its paw to swat his nose as he mumbled. "W-wait, I think I'm gonnasne—" He sneezed twice in a row, causing the kitten to scramble away.

Another meow caught his attention until he saw another kitten; this time grey colored, staring upside down at him. Once perused enough, the kitten began playing with his blond spikes as the other one joined soon enough, while he was increasingly befuddled about all this. "Kiba, since when you'd adopt some cats? I mean, whoa, you love dogs since forever and isn't Akamaru going to be jealous 'bout it…"

"Indra. Ashura. That's enough, come over here." A velvety baritone voice rung in the living room, his eyes instantly searched for its source. The kittens jumped and sauntered away, approaching to a pair of feet while they rubbed themselves on his legs.

Further bewildered, he raised his head even with his limited movement, his vision trailing from the long toned legs, visible even through the loose sweatpants, crossed arms that showed his muscles, pale skin to the oval shaped face that showed striking features beneath a midnight hair, sharp dark eyes and thin lips that adorned an aristocratic look.

His mouth hung low puzzled as he blurted out the first question that rose in his head.

"Who the hell are you?" He then realized that this stranger barked the same words at the same time.

He shook his golden hair. "Wait, that's my line."

Graphite eyes narrowed. "You invaded my house last night, I'm calling the police right now."

"What?! You're not making any sense dude, I—where's Kiba?" He grunted, struggling to free his wrists.

"Who is this Kiba you keep talking about? Give up, I made sure I tied well around your limbs you idiot." The dark-haired man grunted observing him squirming on the sofa.

Cerulean eyes froze, a cold sweat running on his back. Maybe this weirdo kidnapped him while he was inebriated, then tied him up so he'd—Oh Gooood, he's too young to die! His stomach made other sick twists that reminded him that he was still suffering from his hangover, so he gathered another deep breath to calm him down.

Soft steps cautiously approached as the stranger muttered. "Are you okay? You look…pale."

" _Not as pale as you are…"_ He bit back the automatic retort, though he was comforted that this man didn't appear to be a bad person. Wait. Then… "Ah hah. Ah ha hahaha…"

He continued his laughter as the brunet took some careful steps back, crossing his arms. "What?"

Trying to adjust his constricted position on the sofa, he said. "Alright, tell Kiba that this was pretty damn funny. I gotta say, that's the best prank he ever did till now. Tying me up and moving me to this house, you're probably Kiba's friend right? Anyways, you guys had your laugh, now can you untie me 'cuz I can't feel my hands…"

"What are you talking about?" The stranger straightened up.

The other young man was now completely confused. "What are **you** talking about? Ok, c'mon, 't was funny the first few minutes but if you're gonna continue faking it then, that's just lame. Untie me man. You're friends with Kiba right?"

"I already told you that I don't know anyone named Kiba." Was the deadpanned retort.

"…wha…" Question marks filled all over his head when the grey colored kitten decided to settled on his body, curling around his chest and preparing itself for a nice nap. He used this moment to scrutinize on its owner face, the way his dark eyes were narrowed and his lips curled downwards, looking as puzzled as he was. It didn't seem that he was lying so, with a growing dread in his heart he muttered. "Why the hell am I here???"

"That was supposed to be my question!" The other one retorted, equally incredulous. He clapped his hands, drawing the attention from the grey kitten. "Ashura, come here and stay far away from this lunatic."

"Hey you bastard, I'm not a lunatic! I just have no idea what the hell am I doing in here!" He met a sarcastic silence back and barked out. "Asshole! I'm not crazy, I was just drunk last night!"

"That doesn't warrant you to waltz in my house out of the blue you dumbass. Or into anyone's house for the matter."

"Well, maybe I—" A light bulb went off and he groaned. "Ok, where am I?"

A dark eyebrow was raised, as if the stranger was seriously contemplating his sanity. "I already told you, in my ho—"

He scowled, his arms itching to deliver a punch if only he wasn't tied up. "I know that you ass. I meant by address. A-d-d-r-e-s-s."

The other man harrumphed. "Oakmond street, 299."

Realization finally dawned on his face. "Oooooooh—you're that friggin' annoying anal retentive neighbor that Kiba always complained about!" He zipped up his mouth when he noticed a growing darkening aura around the stranger.

"Say again?"

He cleared his throat in an attempt mollify the situation. "Anyways…um…Sasuke is your name right? Untie me? Please?"

Dark eyes glared. "What's the guarantee that you're not some crazy criminal that will kill me if I do so?"

"Me? C'mon, do I look like some mentally unstable weirdos that would stab anyone out of nowhere? No! I'm just an innocent guy, friend of children and defender of the weak, believe it! Now fuckin' untie me." As Sasuke was still unmoved from his position, he added. "I swear, I won't do any harm. This is just a misunderstanding."

"What kind of misunderstanding?" The way the pale arms were still tightly crossed together showed that he wasn't going to do anything until he'd receive the answers required.

Blue eyes rolled in exasperation as he said. "Well, so I got too drunk last night and I was gonna crash in Kiba's house, who is your neighbor next door. Yeah, the guy with the humongous dog that you kept complaining that he barks too much, I know. Soooo—I was going to his house. I accidentally ended up in yours. End of story I can't-feel-my-fingers-and-I'm-feelin'-sickuntiemenowwwwww—"

"Am I really supposed to believe in this stupid lie?"

"It's not a lie, that really happened dammit!" He groaned, all the rumors of Kiba's neighbor being a pain in the ass were being confirmed now. "I can even call him if you wanna, untie my hands so I can gr—"

At this moment a shrill sound of music interrupted their conversation. His cell phone was buzzing in his pocket as he said.

"See? It's probably Kiba, lookin' for me."

Sasuke was still staring suspiciously.

"Answer the phone, my hands are tied, I can't grab it."

With a grimace, he approached close to the blond man and swiftly grabbed the gadget from his pocket. He stared on the screen for few seconds, tapping on it and almost putting on his ear until Kiba's frantic voice filled the room.

"NARUTO! DUDE! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!"

Naruto had to stifle a snicker from the frown of surprise coming from Kiba's neighbor. He yelled back. "Kiba, you hearing me?"

"NARUTO, I WAS WORRIED SICK MAN! I HAD TO CANCEL THE APPOINTMENT 'CUZ YOU WERE NOWHERE IN MY HOUSE, I SEARCHED AROUND AND I DIDN'T SEE YOU IN ANY STREET I CALLED ALL OUR FRIENDS AND YOU WEREN'T THERE—"

As he pressed his lips together, the brunet let out an exasperated sigh and grumbled to cease Kiba's loud diatribe. "Hello."

A shocked silence came from the other side of the telephone until Kiba's voice boomed. "Oh. Oooh!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Whoa Naruto, you finally landed on one???" Kiba's boisterous voice echoed in the room. "Congrats dude, 's bout time you got laid! But really man, I know you swing both sides but do you really have to have a preference over d—*beep*" Sasuke turned off the cell phone.

"So you believe me?" Naruto said, pulling out his most charming grin in his arsenal to mollify the owner of the house.

"I can't believe that there are people this stupid that would actually enter someone else's house by mistake. The more you learn..." Sasuke snorted, his mouth tugging into a condescending smirk.

"Heeeey─" Naruto bit back the automatic protest, knowing that he better keep it low since he was in a compromising position. He rolled his eyes. "Ok, fine, whatever. Now that we cleared up all 'bout this, you're untying me right?"

Sasuke just stood for a very long time, piercing eyes in perusal until he let out a noise of disbelief, turning around.

Widening his eyes, Naruto shouted. "Hey! Hey! You're not just gonna leave me here are ya?!"

"I think leaving you for few hours will prove a valuable lesson and this way, I'm assuring myself that you definitely won't make the same mistake afterwards." Sasuke began walking back to his room, his cats following behind.

"WHAT?! No way, c'mon you bastard! You're not gonna do that, really?!?! I'm suffering a hangover, I need to rest and you're leaving me here, tied up and everything?! ASSHOLE!"

Sasuke sniffed. "You reap what you sow. Ashura, come over here."

Naruto's mouth dropped, his jaw hanging like a flopping fish. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?!" Sasuke winced; his voice was so shrill that he could break some glasses from it. "YOU GODDAMN BASTARD SON OF A BITCH FUCK—"

All of a sudden, Naruto's yells came to a halt and he froze with widened eyes. This strange silence didn't sit well to Sasuke but unfortunately, before he could enquiry about this, the tanned skin changed to green and Naruto turned around—

"BLEAAAAAAARGHGHGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

—puking last night's entire dinner to the ground.

A black eyebrow twitched spasmodically.

10 minutes later, Naruto was still scrubbing the floor and using every possible cleaning product, while Sasuke inspected closely. Naruto briefly thought that this was similar to a scene from Cinderela with her evil stepmother. The blond man snorted, he considered the comparison quite reasonable seeing the way Sasuke was flaring his nostrils in disgust.

"C'mon, I'm done right? I don't see one speckle of dirt anymore, it's sparkly clean man!" He whined. He felt a soft sensation of the kitten nudging his leg, he responded by caressing its head.

Sasuke thinned his lips. "Ashura, come here." His order went unnoticed as the kitten was now purring and rubbing on Naruto’s legs while the latter caressed its ears. Sasuke tightened his hands instinctively, unsure on how to react about his cat’s fondness towards this stranger.

With an inward sigh, he inhaled, searching for any remnant of stench as he perused around for any stain, still scrunching his nose in distaste as Indra sat next to him with the same air of displeasure.

"Well. Did I get your approval your majesty?" Naruto said with a mocking bow.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, before snorting. He clucked his tongue to catch his cats' attention, as they sauntered close to their owner. "Get out." He snarled with crossed arms.

Naruto growled low as he stood up and stomped all the way through the door, closing it with a loud rumble.

What a prick. Kiba was right, his neighbor is an absolute fucking asshole.

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

A sudden noise coming from his living room stirred him awake, worried if there was any burglar breaching his house. In the darkness of his bedroom, he fumbled blindly in search for any heavy object to bludgeon any suspicious person, silently sliding off his bed. However, Ashura hopped off with a happy meow, so Sasuke had to hasten steps to stop his kitty before it was too late.

Only to wind up recognizing the stupid face from that stupid drunkard from last week that puked all over his pristine floor. Ashura even kneaded on his lap, circling around before settling down with a quiet purr.

How can anyone be this idiotic that he'd mistakenly enter in the wrong house twice in a row? Is this a prank? Sasuke wondered as he attempted to attract Ashura's attention back to him but the kitty was already shutting his eyes. He should call the police, or anything like that. Maybe knock on his neighbor's door, after all it was supposed to be his problem considering they were friends.

But he’s not going to waste his energy with his dog-breath neighbor. Still, the dumbass is sleeping in his house, occupying the whole couch to boot so…hmmm…

Well whatever, he’s probably a harmless fool. Admittedly, one of the major reasons why Sasuke wasn’t as alarmed as he was supposed to be, it was because of all this tantalizing tanned skin filling the entire view, proving to be quite an interesting distraction to him. He hastily redirected his gaze towards his kitten; he wasn’t supposed to ogle this blatantly a stranger’s naked chest.

Wait. This moron is sleeping on his couch uninvited, invading his home, so he had every right to ogle for as long as he’d like. Sasuke crossed his arms, taking his time to savor this free eye candy. He slowly came to realization that his cat Indra was staring back at him.

“What?” He barked. Indra merely ignored him and sauntered back to his bedroom. With a shrug, Sasuke refocused on the issue at hands. Maybe he should tie the blond man hands and legs…just to be sure.

He strutted to his kitchen to grab some zip locks, tying Naruto’s limbs and taking few steps back to examine his handiwork. With a satisfactory nod, he returned to his bed.

On the morning he was already woken with a string of curses coming from his unwanted visitor. Sasuke smirked to himself, stretching his arms and patting Indra’s head as he strolled back to his living room.

“Gah! Fuck! How the fuck I ended up here again?”

“That should be my question you dumbass.” Sasuke declared as he approached the blond man. “This is the second time already, are you doing this on purpose?”

“What? No! Of course not! It’s not my fault that both your and Kiba’s houses are so fucking similar—“

One black eyebrow was raised. “Mine is light blue colored while his house has brown walls—“

“They all fucking look the same at night so it’s still not my fault!” Naruto howled, trashing around. "And why the fuck would you even tie me up again?! Are you into BDSM, you freak?!"

"I'm simply taking action to avoid any possible trouble. Shouldn't you be thankful that I actually didn't call the authorities the second time in a row?" Sasuke sneered back.

He received no response from the blond man. Glancing suspiciously over the hunched figure, Sasuke approached.

"I feel sick…" He heard a groan as Naruto curled his body tighter onto himself.

Shit. Sasuke ran to the kitchen to grab a knife and quickly freed the tanned limbs.

"You remember where's the bathroom right, it's the first on the lef─" Sasuke stared as Naruto sat up and rubbed his wrists nonchalantly.

Azure eyes crinkled in amusement towards the dark gray eyes. "Thanks." Naruto let out a toothy grin.

Sasuke's fists tightened, his eyebrow twitching. "Get out. And don't ever come back. I don't want a freeloader creeping around my house."

"Ugh. Bastard." Naruto muttered to himself. He then suggested to the brunet. "How about we do this thing. I can do something for you as some sort of payment from last night."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Payment? Like?"

Sasuke half-expected some cheap, moronic joke like 'I'll pay you with my body' coming from the blond dumbass in which, by the way, he's not interested about it _at all_. Yes. Seriously.

Naruto scrunched up his face in deep thought, his lips a little puckered. He brightened up. "I can cook today's breakfast!"

Sasuke's mind blanked for few seconds, until he blurted out. "What? You? Cook breakfast?" His eyes measured up and down towards Naruto in disbelief.

"Yeah! What do you want for breakfast? I can cook whatever dish you want!" Naruto hopped off, putting on his shirt (much to Sasuke's disappointment) as he trotted towards the kitchen.

"Wait. You." Sasuke crossed his arms. "You know how to **cook**?"

"What the hell you bastard, I'm a chef!" Naruto protested with a growl. He received a snort in return and waved an accusing finger on Sasuke's direction. "In a 5-star restaurant, don't underestimate me!"

"Hn, sure." Sasuke shrugged. Figuring that it wouldn't do any extra harm having someone else cooking his breakfast, he muttered. "I want some scrambled eggs and a tomato sandwich. Surely you can do something simple as that right."

"Pfft, just sit tight and watch me in action. It's going to make your jaw drop."Naruto said while his arms gestured with a melodramatic flair, searching and grabbing the ingredients on the fridge. With the food placed on the kitchen sink, he asked. "Where do you place your knives, whisk and spoon. Oh, also salt and some spices."

Sasuke pointed. "Knives and other utensils are on the first cabinet to your right. Spices are on the cupboard above you."

"Thanks." Naruto appraised the knife mildly impressed, it was a fairly good and sharp knife. "You have a small pot and a skillet?"

With a grunt, Sasuke rose up from his seat, opened the cabinet, and placed the aforementioned items on Naruto's hand.

The blond chef grinned back. "Thanks." He placed the skillet to the side as he finished washing the vegetables, putting the cutting board nearby. The mirthful blue eyes focused sharply, all traces of humor gone as he cut the ingredients in deft speed.

Sasuke stared back in awe, sounds like the blond man wasn't lying about being a chef. Arms flew around picking up the condiments and turning on the stove, while experienced hands mixed the eggs with the whisk in the pot, adding butter as he also heated the skillet at the same time.

"Oh yeah. You mind having cheese on your tomato sandwich?" Naruto asked, turning around to face Sasuke.

"It's fine."

"Where did you put it?" Naruto asked whilst holding the pot, opening the fridge. Before Sasuke could answer, he shouted. "Whoa, cottage cheese! It's a nice brand too." He sniffed and perused the cheese. "Quite fresh it seems, you won't mind if I use it right. Oh, and I also picked up some of your basil leaves before, that ok?"

Sasuke briefly nodded, observing Naruto moving around like some busy bee. He had to begrudgingly admit that it was an interesting sight, seeing a professional chef in his work as Naruto placed some unique herbs, used some unusual techniques to fry the tomato and began putting the food on the dish with a dash of olive oil. The white smoke trailed a nice fragrance wafting from the plate, as Naruto placed on the kitchen table, bowing politely:

“Please enjoy your food.”

Sasuke didn’t question such odd action of bowing, too fascinated on the neatly decorated plate laid before his eyes. The sandwich was cut in half, looking crispy with basil leaves adorning on it. The scrambled eggs were in a bright yellow color, sprinkled with some herbs and black pepper, velvety and soft.

Holding his fork, Sasuke picked some scrambled eggs and gingerly brought into his mouth. A long moan escaped through. This was the best scrambled eggs he had ever tasted in his life; the right amount of fluffiness and yet solid enough to savor the bite. The herbs complimented well with the egg’s light flavor, salty and spicy enough that made him crave for more.

Already dreading the smugness coming from the blond man, Sasuke readied a glare when he raised his eyes, meeting Naruto’s very wide grin. The latter poorly masked his chuckle with a cough as he turned around to wash the dishes.

With his eyes still narrowed, Sasuke picked the tomato sandwich, noting the bright red color coming from the fruit as the cheese melted nicely. He munched while tamping down the urge to moan again, all the textures of each ingredient blending perfectly and yet there's an explosion of multiple flavors complimenting his palate. How did he manage to fry the tomato in a way that still managed to be crunchy and hot, juices spreading on his tongue…Sasuke licked his lips discreetly, picking a nearby napkin to wipe his mouth.

At that moment Naruto had already finished washing everything and was now wiping the dishes with a table cloth; Ashura approached and rubbed himself on his legs. Smiling when the kitten meowed towards him, Naruto scratched the back of his ears, picking the cat and placing on his lap. His hands lightly wrestled with the cat a little, not minding when Ashura playfully bit his fingers as Naruto squeezed his paws.

"Hey, your cat is really cute ya know. And nice! I mean, this one I'm holding, I'm sure he's nice. What's his name?" Naruto asked while Sasuke was still munching.

The brunet gulped down the mouthful and answered. "Ashura. The black one over there is Indra."

"Oh, Ashura! Heeeeeyyyy─aren't you adorable Ashura~" Naruto massaged the kitten's ears, as Ashura placed his paws on the tanned nose. "You're so cute and fluffyyyy─awwwww" He rubbed his face on the cat's belly.

Seriously…this cat is just too trusting towards any human; Sasuke mused to himself. His older brother on the other hand, needed some extra time to warm up to anyone, as Indra sat on a far spot observing the commotion.

Naruto placed Ashura back to the floor and did a last check if the kitchen was completely clean.

"Well, I guess I repaid the debt I owe you so it's time for me to go."

"What? You're not staying here to eat?" The words were uttered before Sasuke could stop himself.

Naruto actually widened his eyes surprised, until he softened his face. Sasuke watched entranced this warm smile as he shrugged.

"Nah, I think I overstayed my time here ya know. It was nice of you to ask but I won't bother you anymore." The blond chef walked towards the entrance when Sasuke also motioned to stand up from his seat. "Hey, no need to walk me out the door, really. It'll sound weird but I really like seeing people enjoying my food so I don't want any interruptions. Even on my behalf."

He waved his hands energetically as he closed the door.

"See ya later! Maybe!" Sasuke rolled his eyes when he heard Naruto's following scream outside. "HEY DOG BREATH! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This was supposed to be a short one-shot. A short. One Shot! >:[


	2. Tricks of your Heart

This same timing, the same grumble…it can't be. Sasuke opened his eyes with a huff, noticing even the same loud thud inside his house. Ashura was already sprinting towards the living room so there was absolutely no mistake who was the intruder─for the 3rd time straight in every weekend.

Lo and behold, that idiot was once again snoring on his couch, with Ashura perched on the tanned chest. Sasuke flicked Naruto's forehead few times, grumbling:

"Hey. Moron. Wake up."

Naruto whapped his hand away, mumbling. "Kiba, f'off 'mma sleeeep…zzzzzzzzz"

Sasuke sighed, slapping on the blond head a little harder than usual. Nope, the dumbass was completely out cold. His eyes trailed to the kitchen cabinets, musing whether there was a need to tie Naruto up once again. After all, despite that this technically counted as property invasion, he's not a dangerous individual.

Buuut…considering that Sasuke was feeling a tad mischie─…suspicious, he better tie Naruto's wrists…just to make extra sure.

The next morning, what woke him up was Naruto's voice of "Wawawawa─" and a subsequently loud thud that gave him some sort of inner satisfaction. Shaking his head, Sasuke went to meet his unwanted visitor.

He snorted witnessing the unfolding situation: his cat decided that the dumbass' face could make a nice pillow to sit on while Naruto couldn't fend him off.

"Heee─lp" Came the feeble whine, lying on the floor.

Sasuke made few noises to catch Ashura's attention, but his kitten looked quite cozy on his spot. He caught his cat by his scruff, a raised eyebrow in response to Naruto's disgruntled face.

"Seriously, any reason I'm tied up again?"

"The bigger question here is why do you keep invading my house. Tying your arms is rather a small thing compared to all legal actions I could do considering you are trespassing private property without consent." Sasuke barked back.

"Whoa─dude, you don't have to go all out for blood as if I offended your mom! It was just a simple question, you know I'm not dangerous." Naruto retorted. "So, you really into BDSM? A lil whippin'? No?"A slow smirk dawned on the tanned face as he muttered. "Or maybe you like seeing me all tied up like that."

"In your dreams." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"Hah, maybe in yours."Naruto shifted a little to show his body in full view, his hips undulating a little as he tightened his arms. "So don't you wanna free me now?"

Sasuke stared unimpressed. "Stop flexing your muscles moron, you look ridiculous." He said, awaiting the following outburst of indignation from the blond man.

However, despite his initial expectations Naruto let out a short bark of laughter.

"You just watched The Wolf of Wall Street?" He said amused.

Sasuke blinked, realizing that he unconsciously just quoted a line from the movie. "Rewatched yesterday."

"Yeah, it's a great movie. Leonardo diCaprio totally nailed on that role! I love watching his movies ya know. Martin Scorsese also gave him a lot of freedom to act so brilliantly too."

Sasuke nodded. "What impressed me was the flowing of the narrative, and the cast was all well chosen for their part."

"I agree! Jonah Hill was another one who impressed me too! Margot Robbie who was practically newbie in the industry delivered so well. Her southern accent was really believable."

"Also, it's nice that Scorsese kept pushing the envelope even further, even if Hollywood dictates a safer and simpler plot. It gives more encouragement for other directors to do the same."

So engrossed in this conversation, Sasuke found bewildered the sudden silence coming from the other man. Naruto smiled bashfully, raising his arms a bit.

"I'd love to continue talking about these awesome movies but it's kinda weird chatting all tied up right." Naruto added. "I'll cook you breakfast!"

Sasuke stared down, then shrugged, finding a box cutter nearby as he cut. "Considering you spent another night in my house, this was something you're under the obligation to do so."

"Yeah yeah." Naruto rubbed his shoulders, stretching his limbs. "So what do you want to eat this time?"

Sasuke would be lying if he said that he wasn't looking forward to eat another delicious breakfast from Naruto. He even searched some more complex recipes as inspiration."Poached eggs with ham, tomatoes and portobello mushrooms."

Naruto shook his head. "What? American breakfast again? No bowl of rice with a fried fish and some nice miso shiro? Pity. You know the saying…"

Then, out of nowhere, the blond man launched some incomprehensible gibberish that Sasuke vaguely recognized to be Japanese. As Naruto turned to face him, Sasuke muttered incredulous:

"What the hell did you just say?"

Blue eyes blinked, Naruto rubbed the back of his neck flustered. "Oh sorry, I thought you were Japanese."

"My ethnicity is Japanese but that doesn't mean I know Japanese. I was born here, in America."

"My bad. I guess I always kind of automatically expect that any Japanese here knows some Japanese?" Naruto noticed the way Sasuke pursed his lips and hastened to apologize. "I didn't mean to offend you, I mean, you don't have any obligation to know Japanese of course."

Sasuke nodded hesitantly back, when Indra bumped his head on his leg. He cleared his throat. "Anyways, breakfast."

Naruto brightened up. "Right! Breakfast! Hey, you don't mind waiting a little? I need to pick up some things from Kiba's house."

"…why?"

"Your kitchen is nice and you have good ingredients and utensils but I guess I'm more used with my own things. I got a nice idea for the poached egg that it's going to blow your mind!"

And thus Naruto walked towards the door without any further ado. The grey kitten followed behind, meowing, so Naruto picked him up with a grin. "Ashuurraaaa─you're the cutest lil kitten! I'll be right back ok?" He kissed on the top of the kitten's head and was out for few minutes.

He came back with a small cart with wheels and three levels of stools. The top of it there were several fresh herbs, varied spices, three kitchen knives and other utensils. On the stool below there were pots and pans, in it laid several glass bottles with assorted liquids. And lastly, the third stool contained the ingredients.

"You always have these around your friend's house?" Sasuke enquired puzzled.

"Ah yeah, I'll end up cooking for everyone whenever our friends would get together for a dinner. I'm used to it." Naruto explained while he selected the mushrooms and began wiping the dirt off with a towel paper. "Oh, in any case you're suspicious, these mushrooms are organic."

"Hn."

"They are also not poisonous." Naruto teased.

"I'm not so sure. You should make two portions so I can use you as a poison tester then."Sasuke muttered, while patting Indra’s head.

“If it makes you happier.” Naruto grinned, grabbing the rest of the ingredients and washing the tomatoes.

He also grabbed a bowl and a large pan, whisk and several eggs. While he was cracking the eggs, dividing the yolks, he put the skillet on the smallest flame on the stove. Olive oil was added as well as tomatoes and the mushrooms on the skillet. Naruto began warming the butter in another pan, the bowl containing the yolk ready to be mixed with vinegar using his whisk, until he felt a presence nearby. He turned to see Sasuke surreptitiously glancing at the stove.

“…yes?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke recomposed himself in terms of seconds, clearing his throat. “What.”

“You need something?”

“No, nothing.” Sasuke took few steps back, half turning away.

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto continued stirring the yolk, as he also checked the tomatoes and the mushrooms. Once again, he noticed Sasuke’s eyes focused on the food. Or if he could be more accurate; in the preparation of such food.

Sasuke caught the badly concealed grin coming from the blond chef as he narrowed his eyes. Naruto's hands were still moving everywhere in a rapid motion, chopping some herbs as he rechecked the vegetables once again; adding seasoning. It was changing into a nice color on the pan. He finished mixing the yolk as he put it aside, cutting two pieces of bread in half.

"You like cooking as a hobby don't you."

Sasuke blinked at the statement spouted out of nowhere, as Naruto said with a matter-of-fact tone.

Naruto smiled at him. "You have several spices and herbs you use frequently when I saw that most of the bottles were already halfway done. But you have some other unique ones which means you like experimenting. The ingredients you have are all fresh and have a good quality. The pans are stainless steel and you took good care of it too. Above all your knives are quite sharp from a nice brand, which means that you know that one of the most important part of cooking is a sharp knife."

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow impressed, crossing his arms. "And what makes you think cooking is just a hobby for me and I'm not a professional chef like you?"

"Your hands, they look pretty normal." Naruto grinned. "All cookers and chefs have calloused hands and several cuts, not to mention some scars from burns. In the restaurant I work we joke that those are trophies, spoils from war." He noticed the mushrooms sizzling so he asked. "Sorry, can you get some plates for me?"

Sasuke picked them up from the cabinet and observed Naruto neatly putting the mushrooms and tomatoes on it, sprinkling with the herbs as he put a small twig of rosemary as decoration. He put the skillet on the sink to briefly wash the flavor off from the vegetables as he reheated again, putting another dash of oil once the water had dried off.

"In case you wanna know, the best to cook mushrooms and tomatoes is a slow cook, keep them whole to enhance the flavor. You can't wash the mushrooms."

"Why?"

"Because the mushrooms will absorb the water, making it soggy. If you want to wash, at least let it dry for about half an hour before cooking. The tomatoes, by the way, it's better if you can buy it with their vines. It's fresher. The moment you pluck the vegetables out of their stem is a battle against time so if you can keep for as long as possible it's better."

Sasuke took mental notes, nodding. "So this counts rule counts on every vegetable?"

"Wait a min." Naruto mumbled, picking up the ham slices and frying with his skillet. He hummed perusing on the ham, using a tong to pick them up. He put the breads to fry afterwards, waiting to get a nice crisp texture as he also set them aside and reheated the water, putting more vinegar and salt in it.

Sasuke waited as the blond chef organized the plate, returning his attention to the water later on.

"Sorry, what was the question again?" Naruto asked, stirring the pot with a whisk.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "You said it's better to keep vegetables with their vines, then─"

"Oh yeah! No, not all of them. Like…root vegetables such as carrot and potatoes, they get sweeter over time. Hey, awesome. Now the water is perfect to make the poached egg. The secret is to cook it when it began boiling." Naruto put the eggs in a cup, dropping on the boiling water as he finished cooking at last.

Mindlessly whistling while he placed the fried ham and poached egg on the piece of bread, Naruto completed by spreading the cooked yolk on it.

"It's Hollandaise sauce, in any case you're wondering. Alright~it's all done!" Naruto chirped, putting the dishes on the table as they both sat facing each other. The kittens also approached, attracted by the smell.

Sasuke stared down the dish. It looked too high class to be just a normal breakfast.

Naruto clapped with his hands positioned in a prayer. “いただきます〜(thank you for the food)”

While he was cutting the mushroom, Sasuke wondered. “So you studied Japanese then?”

“Oh, I’m Japanese.” Naruto replied. “Born and raised in Japan.”

“…you’re hafu(mixed race)?” Sasuke asked, considering that Naruto’s name was typically Japanese.

“Hm, I wouldn’t know.” Naruto rubbed his neck.“I grew up in an orphanage ya know. Whoever were my parents abandoned me behind a hospital I heard.”

Sasuke stiffened at once, food forgotten. Unsure of what words he could use, he blurted out. “Sorry.”

“Huh?" Naruto shook his hands in disagreement. "Oh, there’s nothing to apologize about, I got into a very nice orphanage! I went to good schools and the social workers helped me a lot, it’s thanks to them I managed to study gastronomy.”

Sasuke nodded, detecting a small accent coming from the blond man upon close inspection. “Your English is pretty good though.”

Naruto laughed. “Well, you noticed that I love watching movies right? Back in my teens when I was still goin’ in a rebellious stage, like, you know, trying to find my identity, my heart, my soul whatever you name it. So I practiced my English while watching it. I used to imagine that I was actually an American, some son from a famous mafia and my parents had to leave me here but they’ll be back as soon as they could, rescuing me from this place in an epic battle, guns blazing and bullets flying everywhere. As you can see I watched a lot of Godfather and Scarface. Rewatched hundred times.”

“Explains a lot of your thuggish vocabulary.” Sasuke smirked, taking a bite on the mushroom. He struggled to keep his impassive face, marveling the savory flavor and its perfect firmness.

“…” Naruto didn’t even bother defending himself, watching Sasuke with amused interest. “Hey…I know you want to moan, I know my food is delicious. Go on. No need to restrain yourself.”

“Shut up.” Sasuke grumbled.

“Let it all out. This feeling is buried deep inside your soul and it wants to scream for everyone to hear it. I definitely want to hear it too.”

“No, you’re being delusional.”

A mischievous smile blossomed on Naruto’s face. “Or maybe you need some inspiration.”

Black eyes widened and then narrowed. “Don’t you dare.”

“I’ll show ya.”

“You’re insan—“

Naruto moaned very loudly, the noise resembling very close to the dirtiest raunchy porn available in his stash.

“You dumbass!” Blushing, Sasuke kicked his shin from below the table which promptly made Naruto halt the feverous mating call.

The blond man groaned, while chortling. “Ow ow ow, hitting the chef you ingrate!” He continued laughing despite Sasuke’s peeved expression.

Sasuke glared, even though he was also twitching his lips upwards in response. “I’ll sic Indra onto you.”

Naruto raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll stop I’ll stop. There’s no way I can win against the mighty claws of this cute little murdering machine. Indra I can see killing me on the spot. Ashura is an adorable little kitty though. Aren’t you Ashura?”

Fluffy ears perked up from the call, as Ashura jumped and settled on Naruto's lap.

"Awwwwww─he's so cuuuuute!!!" Naruto hugged the kitty, rubbing his cheek on the grey colored fur. "I'm gonna kidnap you so I can have you all for myself!"

"Don't you dare." Sasuke muttered between bites. "I doubt Indra will allow either."

"そんなかわいい猫から、どうしたきみがそんなくそオーナーいるか？(you're such a cute cat, why do you have such an asshole owner?)" Naruto replied while he patted Ashura's head.

"I don't know what the hell you just spouted but I do know you said 'kuso' somewhere and that's a curse word, so you better stop it or else." Sasuke threatened nonchalantly, earning a easygoing smile coming from Naruto.

"So you do know some Japanese huh." Naruto spoke. "Practiced at home? Or went to a school?"

"Hn. Me and my brother used to go to a Japanese language school back when we were kids." Sasuke explained, recalling distant memories. "We had to talk in Japanese with our grandparents back then till they passed away, that was long time ago."

Afterwards, he was stuck knowing only the basics and never bothered himself to brush up his skills. Itachi being the genius that he was, managed to cultivate it and nowadays he spoke as fluently as his Japanese clients he dealt every day.

"Hmmm…that's very unfortunate I guess. So you're the third generation of Japanese immigrants? Makes sense that this tradition of passing the language would be lost to younger generations." Naruto mused out loud.

"I'm the third generation from my father's side. My mother is Japanese though."

"Oh really? Cool."

"Yes, well…she really made an effort in incorporating Japanese in our education…until they got divorced."

It was Naruto's time to stiffen in response, unsure how he should react to this landmine. "Sorry…"

Sasuke shrugged, his shoulders tense. "It's nothing really. All part of the past."

In his faint reminiscences, she would still visit them from time to time, ruffling his head and telling him bedtime stories. Months progressed as those special moments were growing scarce, bigger gaps of void and her smiles melting away. She went back to her homeland in a fateful day, leaving nothing but bitterness, an empty house and broken family. He spent the rest of his childhood and teens watching his father buried in his work, their ties distancing until it was almost impossible to be fixed.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, muttering. "Okay, if you say so…"

Sasuke grunted wordlessly, redirecting his attention to his food. For a moment the kitchen only echoed sounds of metal clattering with the porcelain dishes, altogether with quiet chewing from them.

Naruto recalled about chatting in regard of The Wolf of Wall Street, Sasuke gladly jumped in this opportunity of changing the subject. They talked about filming techniques, structure of plot, soundtrack…even traded few movie titles recommendation, ranging from romantic comedy to horror. Sasuke had a fairly knowledge over European movies, while Naruto knew good chunk of Japanese and Chinese ones.

Their conversation kept on even when they were cleaning the table, with Naruto washing the dishes and Sasuke dried them out. He listened amused about Naruto's stories when he firstly moved to New York, having a stomach ache the first time he tried a burrito. His own thoughts wavered to consider the possible hard time his mother had when she lived in this country, as he muttered:

"I can't imagine what my mother had gone through, considering that time we didn't even have internet and our world weren't as globalized as it is nowadays. That took a lot of courage…Going to a different country all by herself…I'm sure that there was a big cultural shock."

"Hm yeah, there sure is. Attitude, manners and all you know? Americans express your opinion very openly and direct, while we generally prefer avoiding this since we think this is more polite. Plus we're usually more closed off in comparison to you guys. I guess I'm the exception of the rule."

"I can see that." Sasuke smirked in response. "You've been living here for how long?"

"Three years already! I got a recommendation from the restaurant I used to work in Tokyo. It's been an awesome experience so far."

"You never felt homesick?" Sasuke asked, a distant image of his mother forming in his mind.

Naruto shrugged. "At first yeah…then you get used to it. Besides, my plan is to learn as much as I can over here and then open my own restaurant one day."

Pausing, Sasuke gazed the determination filling Naruto's blue eyes, mounting a considerate respect towards him. "So you intend to open a Japanese restaurant then?"

"Huh…well, not exactly. Tokyo has a huge variety of different styles of food, so if I stick to only one nationality I won't be able to stand out. That's why I'm learning over here so I can open a contemporary restaurant later on."

"…so you want to go back to Japan after all." Sasuke was befuddled with himself. Why was he feeling disappointed about this? There was no reason to feel like that, it's even weirder considering that it's only the third time he met this man.

Unaware about Sasuke's internal turmoil, Naruto chuckled, replying. "Nah, not really, it can be New York too, whatever goes, I'm flexible." He waggled his eyebrows that resulted an automatic roll of eyes from the brunet. "It's gonna be hard either way, it's expensive as fuck buying land in any of these cities."

Sasuke snorted, commiserating about the high living standards of big metropolis.

"Besides, I don't think I'll return to Japan soon, not when I still can't have the freedom of being comfortable with my sexuality over there." Naruto contemplated with his forehead furrowed.

Blinking shocked, Sasuke took some time to absorb those words as he gave his own input:

"Hm, I've heard some stories about gay people struggling in Japan." And that was one of the few things Sasuke was thankful about his father, at least Fugaku was open minded enough in not bothering with the fact his younger son was gay.

"Yeah, we still have long ways to get better in this you know? There are some progress, but it's a topic we prefer avoiding. There's a lot of misinformation and general ignorance from most people, it's hard to discuss with someone who thinks that homosexuality is actually a mental disease that can be cured but this person doesn't say it because he hates gays, but more like it's just something he knows nothing about it."

"That's terrible." Sasuke muttered.

"Well, people are changing at least, even if it's little by little. I still believe that most of us will be more accepting in the near future." Naruto finished cleaning the sink and beamed. "And now we're all done! Where's Ashura? I wanna hug him some more, he's so cuuuuuteeee─"

Shaking his head, Sasuke grabbed the pack of cat food and poured the content in their bowls. The mere noise of plastic bag crinkling made the kittens sprint back to the living room, as they gobbled down with gusto.

Both men watched them eat, until Naruto cleared his throat to catch Sasuke's attention.

"Anyways…" Naruto muttered, not meeting the dark gray eyes. "You have anything to do this afternoon?"

Puzzled, Sasuke asked. "Why?"

"I was thinkin'…I mean, since we both like watching movies and all…There's The Revenant that everyone is saying is really good, plus Leonardo diCaprio and Tom Hardy are starring in that movie…so if you wanted to watch─I mean, unless you already watched it of course─" Naruto babbled, fidgeting on his spot.

Suddenly, a light bulb clicked in his mind, his eyes widened in response. Resisting the urge to also squirm with the blond chef, Sasuke hastily returned to stare his kittens once again.

This…this doesn't sound bad, actually. He had a pleasant morning with him, he also semi-admitted Naruto was handsome, their personalities juggled well despite the apparent differences…

…but why does his heart felt so unsettled.

His mouth slowly opened to retort. "Sorry, I'm going biking with some of my friends…then we're going to a bar afterwards."

Sasuke almost cringed the way Naruto deflated, looking crestfallen. However, he was quick to recompose himself, scratching his golden head. "Yeah, I guess it was too sudden right? Figures you had other plans, 's okay."

Glancing guiltily, Sasuke scratched Indra's ears, considering a little. He spoke, careful with his wording. "I could…go to the restaurant you work one day though. Your food is…passable, so I guess it wouldn't hurt trying there."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and then muttered to himself with a playful grin. "ツンデレ。。。(tsundere)"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Stop with this Japanese already, unless you want Indra to claw all over your face."

"What? Did I say something now? Must be your ears, you need to get them cleaned." Naruto feigned innocence. "Anyways…I work in the Bâtard restaurant."

It was almost like a cold bucket of water fell on his head, Sasuke froze in face of such odd coincidence, stomach twisting from all the unpleasant memories.

"You probably already heard about Bâtard but in any case you didn't, it's one of the best contemporary restaurants in New York! They even won some prizes and I'm really lucky that I can work there. I recommend eating the Yellowfin tuna with marinated radish and quinoa if you hadn't gone there already. Or unless you're not into seafood, in that case I can recommend you some other dishes."

Sasuke clenched his jaw, grunting with a huff. "I already went to Bâtard before."

"Oh really?" Naruto perked up in response. "So, what do you think about it, you can be really honest, I wouldn't mind."

His hands were clammy from the cold sweat, Sasuke tightened into fist as he answered. "The place is really good, nice ambiance, good service and the dishes are delicious." The problem wasn't the restaurant, more like the company he was forced to tolerate once in a while.

"That makes me really happy you enjoyed eating there. Hey, if you want you can call me before eating dinner there and I'll cook you some special dish!" Naruto said cheerfully, oblivious to the sudden darkening in Sasuke's mood.

"There's no need, thank you."

An unpleasant silence fell in between, as Naruto was befuddled about the brunet's dry answer. He twiddled his thumbs, gazing down as Ashura came to his view, rubbing on his legs. He forced a smile to his lips, as he began walking towards the door. "Well um…I guess that's it for today, I better go."

Swiveling his head towards Naruto, Sasuke wanted to hit himself ten thousand times over. Now the blond man probably misunderstood that he was turning him down and was retreating out of consideration.

"Naruto, wait."

The other man turned around, completely taken off guard that Sasuke actually called by his name.

Sasuke thinned his lips. "See you next week."

Cerulean eyes blinked several times to absorb this information. Naruto then smiled. "Okay, next week then."

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

It became a habit in the following months.

Naruto would always arrive on Friday nights, with Ashura cuddling him while the blond man would doze off instantly. If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto was a harmless individual, Sasuke should have been rather alarmed how easy it was to enter his house (he always closed his windows before going to sleep so how did this dumbass managed to open it every single time?) but he lived in a very safe neighborhood, police cars patrolled there frequently, they even knew preemptively that Naruto was his neighbor's friend.

In the morning, Sasuke would whack his head as a greeting, Naruto would scratch his tanned belly half-awake, hearing that day's breakfast choice and then mumbling while he went to Kiba's house to retrieve his cart. His azure eyes would sharpen the instant he'd cut any vegetable, as he continued giving tips of cooking, the brunet listening intently its instructions. They would proceed to have a very engaging conversation while they ate, hours flying by when they least expected it. Then, Naruto would always invite him to spend the afternoon to watch a movie, or jog in the park, or even drink some beer in some bar. Sasuke would always come up with any excuse instead of accepting it.

They could no longer lie that this was merely an accidental situation, not when Naruto no longer stank of alcohol whenever he crashed in Sasuke's house (now that he recalled, the blond chef didn't reek of alcohol at the 3rd encounter already), or the fact that he sounded pretty sober whenever he greeted Ashura at night. The fact that his neighbor was smirking knowingly whenever Sasuke stumbled across him on week days just made it harder to keep himself in denial.

Sasuke had to admit Naruto was, for the lack of better words… _refreshing_. He was outside the spectrum of his usual social circle, it was nice talking with someone who is not in the same professional area like his colleagues. He still maintained contact with his college friends but it's really not the same. Naruto was someone that made Sasuke want to know more about him, to discover more facets of his bubbly personality.

Which now begs the question…why? Why did Sasuke keep refusing Naruto's advances? Sasuke couldn't wrap up his mind the reason why he kept delaying going out with the blond man. If he really wasn't interested, he wouldn’t waste time and would refuse directly, usually…if he was interested he would accept instantly, also usually…Sasuke never saw any point in playing hard to get.

Analyzing logically, there was no reason to say no to any of Naruto's invitations. They were all interesting ideas, some he was even looking forward to do it. He felt at ease with Naruto's presence, they had many topics in common and their bantering would never die out. It was almost as if he already knew him for over a lifetime. Sasuke also had to admit that he was a very good-looking man, and he was drawn towards him with something more than only physical attraction. And even if he wanted to bang Naruto just because he's hot, he wouldn't stall this situation so unnecessarily.

And yet, despite every rational sense, they've reached this impasse. To make matters worse, Sasuke caught himself realizing that they were behaving like an old married couple. By now Naruto knew his house like the back of his hand, picking up the plates without having the need to ask for it. Ashura found his perfect play mate every weekend and even Indra was starting to warm up to him. Above all, he had to consider his own feelings.

Every Saturday morning consisted in going to the living room with an uncharacteristic eagerness, as Sasuke attempted to lull down his loud heartbeats.

And in one of those days, he met the sight of Naruto lying down on the sofa, bathed in sunlight as he scratched Ashura's ears, this natural domesticity growing fondly in each passing week. Once he noticed Sasuke's presence, his lips curled into an affectionate smile, greeting him a good morning. It took all his willpower in not dragging Naruto by his wrist and make him warm his bed all day. **Every day.**

Sasuke sighed. This was it. He's probably losing his mind, for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: at first this was supposed to be a one-shot that became a two-shot and now it has 3 chapters. I swear to God, those fics that spam out of my control…
> 
> The thing about someone believing that homosexuality is a mental disease is unfortunately based on my cousin. It was hard to talk with him because he seriously said it without any ill intent, based solely on ignorance. Luckily his wife intervened.
> 
> In any case you guys are interested, I based the breakfast on this video below. Enjoy~
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1mGDiEbni4


	3. Broken soul can always be mended

The dreaded day had arrived. Inhaling deeply with his eyes closed, he reopened to stare at his own reflection at the mirror. He made sure he wasn't wearing anything that would get unwanted complaint, it's not like he cared about his father's opinion but it's really annoying all that incessant nagging that would further escalate if he rebutted.

Rechecking for the tenth time if he missed anything, the metallic noise of keys jingling echoed in the dark room. He was so lost in his world that he didn't notice his cat Indra approaching in attempt to softly bump his head on his knees, as he left with a quiet click of the door.

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

"But Kibaaaaaaa─hear me ouuuuut─"

Kiba was massaging his temples, sighing loudly. He was supposed to be taking care of this poor elderly dog suffering from leg pain, not hearing the annoying woes of his ditsy blond friend and his stick-in-the-ass neighbor.

"Naruto, I'm busy, call me later."

"What, you're not going to do any surgery or anything like that, I just checked with your sister before calling you!"

"But I still have a patient right now."

"In which you can take care of him while you're talking to me, you're multitasking. Or you can simply lend me an ear, I thought you were helping me out with this!"

"What? You and the cockatoo diva neighbor? It was funny the first days, amusing for few weeks, entertaining like watching an incoming car wreck but now it's just fuckin' bothersome. Pleeease let me outta this hook."

"I wouldn't bother you this much if only I knew how to─" Naruto messed his hair in frustration. "I don't know how to ask him out."

"Maaaaaybe─you know, just maaaaybe he's not into you Naruto."

"That's…you know, that's what I felt after he rejected me for the third time or something? Maybe he's not interested."

"…and? Why are we still having this conversation and why you're still being the stubborn blond idiot I know?" Kiba growled, peeved.

"…I don't know." Naruto admitted. "The way he looks at me, like he wants to…but can't. I can't explain, it's as if he wants me to keep going."

"So he's playing hard to get?" Kiba mumbled, while he examined the dog with his hands.

"Uuuuuh─…I don't know, I think it's something deeper than that."

"You could just give up and spare my poor ears from your whining."

"Gee thanks for being a great friend Kiba!" Naruto grumbled. "To tell the truth, normally I'd just stick as a friend after few tries but I can't explain…I…" Naruto fumbled with his apron, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "I…I really like him you know?"

There was a horrified silence and then. "Jesus Christ, you're a lost cause!"

"Kiba!"

"I mean it! Oh shit, you just made the dog yowl! Did I accidentally touch him somewhere…"

Sounds of phone scrapping with some fabric made Naruto wince in response, listening as his friend was soothing his patient. He waited to whatever Kiba was doing to the dog, some noises of plastic ripping and gauze wrapping afterwards, until he heard the disgruntled voice from Kiba again:

"Ok, tell me you're not serious."

"…"

"Oh god, you're serious." Kiba said appalled.

"…I know you probably see Sasuke as that annoying neighbor but he's a great guy."

"You're even defending him!"

"I'm not! Okay maybe I am, a little!" Naruto shook his head. "Ok, I agree that he's every bit of the asshole you used to say whenever he complained about Akamaru but…he's not only that you know? I really enjoy talking with him, like…I feel like I can talk about anything with him, like I can trust him completely. And we just get along so well, as if I already knew him for decades! He's…he's really a one of a kind to me."

Kiba merely grunted back while he inspected his patient gingerly trotting around the room.

"And it's like─I think…it's all so weird you know? I usually hate that type of holier-than-thou, arrogant ass like Sasuke so I don't know why I actually enjoy his sarcasm, his dry humor."

"It's called hormones Naruto."

"Kiba!" Naruto protested.

"C'mon, just admit it already. I mean fine, it sounds really cool that you found someone you feel so much compatibility but this can also applies with close friends right? So admit that the reason you're so into him is also because you want to get into his pants."

Naruto groaned, rolling his eyes.

"And I guess if I have to look with gay eyes, my neighbor is hot…maybe. And I can kind of understand the attraction…maybe, but I'm not into it because first of all, he should be a she and have to have a pair of boobs."

"So is it going to sound weird that…" Naruto grimaced a little, already expecting the impending reaction. "I don't even care how he looks like, I'd chase him the same?"

"…Naruto, you're starting to freak me out dude."

"I mean it!"

"Okay, wait a minute, I gotta ask my assistant to put the dog back to the kennel."

Naruto listened as his friend were giving instructions on the other side of the phone.

Kiba sighed, rubbing his temples. "So…explain me because I really can't wrap up my mind why you're into my asshole neighbor **this much**."

"Uuuugh─I can't explain! I already told you, it's as if I already knew him long time ago, his personality fits perfectly with mine and…and everything about him really attracts me…"

Kiba suddenly felt as if he was part of some sappy romantic movie and in any moment someone was going to say 'cut!' to stop all this bull crap. He shook his head. "Ok, Jesus God help me, I don't think I can hear this shit any longer. I gotta go, another patient is coming."

"Already? You didn't even helped me out on this! I didn't hear not one suggestion coming from you!"

"Tie him to a bed or tie yourself into his bed, I don't care. Some people has to work here and come to think about it, aren't you supposed to be starting your shift?"

Naruto snorted. "Not today. Some rich dude sometimes likes to book the entire restaurant for the whole night which means that we only have to cook for them and we'll have the rest of the day free. Well, but I think it's almost time for them to order the dishes so I better go…"

"I'm finally getting rid of you? Great, see ya bro!"

Naruto stood from his seat, grumping all the while. "Considering that you didn't give me any helpful idea, you've been a pretty useless friend so far. Shoulda expected that I shouldn't get any love advice coming from you…"

"Heeey─I dare ya saying that aga─"

"Bye!" Naruto chirped, putting his cellphone on his pocket as he opened the door to the service area.

On the corner of his eye, he noticed a familiar face walking on the main street. Naruto instantly recognized Sasuke's spiky hair, as he shouted his name. "Sasuke, hey! Hey!" He sprinted to catch up towards the brunet, but once he reached the main street, Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

He noticed then, looking through the glass doors, Sasuke's retreating back inside Bâtard, as he talked to the maître. Naruto's confusion further escalated when maître bowed in respect and directed him to a table.

Wait. So Sasuke is one of the guests they are going to serve tonight?

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

"You're half an hour late."

Sasuke tried not to get irritated over his father disapproving tone, while he sat down. "I told you that there was a huge traffic jam and that I'd be late."

"You told Itachi about this, why didn't you message me about this either?"

Sasuke couldn't resist the automatic roll of eyes in response. "I thought messaging to only one person was enough, do I have to report everyone wherever I go?"

"Well, as long as you arrived safe and sound little brother." Itachi quickly intervened, curling a small smile. "C'mon, we already ordered our food, you should too."

Pondering for a while, Sasuke obeyed his brother with a long sigh. He picked the menu, perusing the options.

"So…how is Ashura and Indra? Hopefully grown out of their kittens phase right…did you have to buy a new sofa in the end?" Itachi spoke, idly dipping the italian bread with olive oil.

Sasuke snorted. "I didn't buy a new sofa yet because they are still scratching everywhere. Especially Ashura, he has enough energy to spare, he loves picking fights with Indra even if he ends up losing most of the time."

"As expected, I told you that Ashura was a fitting name to that cat. One look and I knew that that little runt was going to be trouble." Fugaku harrumphed with a smirk, taking a sip of wine glass.

"Then why did you name the other cat as Indra father? Probably because it's an easy name to be spoken. Imagine calling your cat as Sarawatsi, wouldn't that be tiring?" Itachi asked.

"Actually, I noticed that when we went to adopt them, all the kittens followed him everywhere. A natural born leader, thus, his name should be Indra then."

"This actually makes some sense…" Sasuke mused, inwardly relieved that the atmosphere between them felt nice. Perhaps they'll have a pleasant dinner this time.

Fugaku hummed, placing the empty glass on the table. "So how's your work?"

Maybe he had spoken way too soon. Huffing, Sasuke muttered. "Fine. Nothing out of ordinary."

"You'd have become a fine lawyer if you had chosen to work with me. But no, you decided to be a civil rights attorney instead."

"I already told you that corporate law is not a field that interests me. I chose this to help out ethnical minorities like us, Japanese people." Sasuke rebutted.

"You do realize that this a terrible choice of career? Most people you're defending are just too poor to afford a decent lawyer and you won't get much money out of it."

"But I've said─!" Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Seriously, do we have to have this conversation every time we have a dinner together?"

Itachi sighed, placing his hand on Fugaku's shoulder. "He's right father, there are better topics to talk about."

"I've merely asked how was his work, where's the sin of asking how is my son doing? I want to know what's so fascinating about it considering that he loves acting like some justice warrior blazing in flames of glory."

Expelling a frustrated huff, Sasuke controlled his temper by smoothing his pants with his hands. Some poisonous words escaped through. "There you are, treating my job as if it's some second-grade work. If you could just take my own decisions seriously, I would have talked more about this with you."

Itachi threw him a disparaging glare, both sons already awaiting Fugaku's menacing growl.

"I let you do whatever you want even though you didn't listen to my sound advices, isn't this treating your decisions serious enough? I have more years of experience than you, so I'm sure you're going to regret it sooner or later and I'm just trying to avoid that." Fugaku declared, his fists tightening on the table.

Sasuke made a disbelieving noise with the back of his throat. "Avoid what? Why don't you admit that you're trying to manipulate me to work with you."

Itachi groaned, throwing glances between his father and his younger brother.

"What are you talking about, why would I use such low tactic to get you working with us?" Fugaku snarled. "Besides, if I really wanted you to work in my office, you're obligated to do so, since you're my son! I paid your college and your law degree from the beloved work you're so painstakingly defending it."

Sasuke felt his temper rise. "I can pay everything back if it'll just make you fucking stop bothering me every single time!"

"You dare using such fowl word towards your fa─"

"That's enough you two!" Itachi banged hard on the table, startling them both. "This is just a simple dinner, we were supposed to just eat and catch up the conversation, not bicker all the time!"

Every member of the family just stared at each other, animosity lingering in the room. A flustered waiter took the opportunity to scurry in, placing the dishes in front of Itachi and Fugaku. When the waiter was nowhere on sight, Itachi picked his napkin, shaking his head.

"Alright let's…enjoy the food ok. For now, that's all I'm asking." He cleared his throat and turned to face his younger brother. "Come to think about it Sasuke, you still didn't ask your own dish right?"

"…I don't know what to choose." Sasuke said and then muttered to himself. "and I lost my appetite anyways."

"How about steak tartare." His father said, raising the knife to cut his food. "It's your favorite dish of this restaurant right."

Sasuke blinked surprised, until he quietly answered. "Yes."

"Oh good, then it's decided." Itachi called the waiter and gave the proper instructions. "It'll arrive soon, you won't mind if we eat first right."

"It's ok, go ahead." Sasuke mumbled, taking another bite of the bread.

"Anyways," Itachi hurried to change the subject. "Remember when I talked about that Japanese client that was having some trouble in delivering his deceased mother's body back to Japan?"

"Yeah, you asked me to help you out in contacting Japan's embassy regarding this. So what happened afterwards?"

"It's still undergoing, we haven't finished documenting everything yet. There are some complications from our side that needed to be smoothed over." Fugaku said.

Sasuke crossed his arms, the familiar sensation of dread crawling in his body. "So let me guess. You want me to ask some of my friends to help you in this case."

"And why do you sound so unwilling to help this case? He's just a poor man who wants to give a proper burial to his mother." Fugaku grouched.

"I just find laughable that you kept putting me down for choosing to be an attorney but you won't waste any moment in asking me favors from contacts I gained while working in this field." Sasuke replied. "Plus I know you well, I can't only give some tips, in the end I'll always have to follow the whole process as you'd like."

"Sasuke…" Itachi said with a warning tone. "Stop blaming our father, this time it was me who asked for this favor. And don't worry, you can just give me your friend's cellphone number, I'll do this call by myself."

Sasuke considered, then sighed. "I'll send you the number later then."

"There you are, I don't understand why are you're so willing to help your bigger brother while you'd turn into a rebellious teenager with your own father." Fugaku harrumphed, munching all the while.

Closing his onyx eyes with deep breaths, Sasuke attempted not to lose his patience. This is just a dinner, just a dinner…it was supposed to be a nice, simple occasion and he needed to remind himself that he's actually here from his own volition, not because of his father and his habit in wanting to control his sons whenever possible.

"Father, please stop treating Sasuke like that, you're not making this easier too." Itachi intervened, earning a grunt coming from his father.

When is his dish finally going to arrive; Sasuke wondered with increasing anxiety, his sweaty hands clutching on his jeans. He just wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

"So about next week's fundraising charity event."

There was already automatic signs of suspicion once Sasuke recognized this similar pattern. "What fundraising you're talking about?" He growled, balling his fists.

Fugaku also narrowed his eyes. "One of my cousins is trying to run for congress. He's going to participate a fundraising event next week and you should help him in his campaign."

"This is the first time I ever heard anything like it. Why didn't you talk to me about it before?" Sasuke bit out.

His father made a condescending noise, responding. "Well, since talking to you on regular basis is already rare and booking this simple dinner is almost impossible, I thought I should talk about it with you when we could finally meet."

"You could have just called me, you don't even know if I already have something to do next week." His heartbeats were increasing, anger bubbling in his chest.

Fugaku stared back at his younger son, crossing his arms.

"Well, do you? Do you have something to do next week?" He asked.

Itachi opened his mouth but Sasuke was faster with his own answer, his fist pressing on the table. "That's not the issue here, you could have just asked me first instead of ordering me around."

"But are you free next week?"

A diversionary tactic; Sasuke growled. "I am free next week but I said─"

Undaunted, his father loomed closer. "Then it's just a little favor, what harm would do if you just showed up a little? Why are you always so stubborn whenever I'd ask for help?" Fugaku demanded.

His mouth snarled unbeknownst to himself, as Sasuke held back the urge to rise from his seat. "Because you never considered me, you just like to push me around as you'd like!"

"Sasuke, there's no need for you to y─" Itachi said, trying to place a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Fugaku rebutted. "I'm not pleased the way you're talking back at your own father. I educated you better than this."

There were some long seconds to absorb this information, as Sasuke studied his father with widened eyes. He almost wanted to laugh sarcastically.

"Educate? You educated me? Really?" He said uncaring with his bigger brother's concerned looks and his father's watchful ones. "Now tell me when did you bother to use some of your time to give me a proper education because I don't remember any."

"I dedicated my entire life to give everything you need for young man!" Fugaku shouted, his authoritative voice froze his sons on the spot. "The house, the good private schools you went, all the additional courses you asked for, all the food and comforts you needed! You think the money came out of nowhere? I spent everything I could to give you the best education and even then you're inconsiderate towards all the sacrifice I had done to you."

A deep, weary resignation weighed down on Itachi and Sasuke, listening to this recurrent speech their father insisted in hammering in their heads since childhood. If throwing this guilt was his original intention, Sasuke was sure that it wore off long time ago, leaving a bitter taste on his tongue. The youngest Uchiha leaned back on the chair, curling a sardonic smile.

"What, disappointed that your investments didn't give the results you wanted?"

Fugaku's expression immediately hardened, his snarl menacing, teetering close to the edge of his self-control. "Don't twist my words Sasuke, I have never said anything like it."

Sasuke shrugged. "And how am I supposed to get a different idea if this is all you talk about us? Money, money and money. That's the only thing left for you so you can manipulate us. You might have used fear and respect to impose whatever you want on us but now that it's escaping from your grasp you just use money since that all it's left." He also felt his own willpower thinning out, his voice uttering louder than necessary. "I can pay everything back if that's what it's going to make you leave me alone!"

"You'll spend your lifetime to pay everything I did for you then boy!" Fugaku threatened standing up, his own voice raising by the minute.

"Then so be it!" Sasuke shouted, his banging on the table. He bit out, resentment sipping through his words. "If it'll rid me of a father who was never part of my life. You don't even admit that everything we did, we have to do it by ourselves because you were never there to guide us. So tell me again what kind of education you gave to us when you just threw us in whatever school without a little bit of care."

Sasuke's speech actually made Itachi and Fugaku stop on their tracks, absorbing this sincere confession, laced with choked emotions, open like a raw wound.

"I know, I know that I have failed not following your growth." Fugaku's whole face was still unrelenting, long lines etched around his mouth. "Which is why I'm trying to fix this now, trying to get to know my sons better."

His throat tightened into a painful knot, torn from his father's answer. However, another portion of his feelings infected his heart, darkening with bitterness. "Maybe you should have seen that some things can't be fixed, it's too late."

Itachi widened his eyes, his hand reached to grip his brother's arm at once. "Sasuke, don't." He warned.

"If only you have opened your eyes years ago and stopped ignoring us." Sasuke uttered out.

"Sasuke stop!"

"Maybe mother wouldn't have divorced you then."

A loud bang reverberated in the restaurant, forks and knives flying everywhere altogether with a melancholic cadence of porcelains breaking to the ground. Fugaku's teeth rattled in sheer effort to block another scream, even though his hands were tightening the silky table cloth.

Fugaku flung his dish uncaringly as it shattered meters away, turning around towards the exit. "We're done, this dinner is over."

Itachi was first to react, trying to reach his father. "But wait─"

"I said we're done." Fugaku snarled, flinging the door with such force that the glasses clattered.

Sasuke was still trying to control himself by slowing down his breaths, noticing his trembling hand. He closed into a fist, peeking guiltily his big brother's expression.

Itachi let out a loud sigh. "I'll talk to him later."

Sasuke's mouth contorted to a grimace. "You know he's never going to apologize for his anger outbursts."

"No, he won't, but you know very well that he already regretted doing this. Sometimes you can't change your nature so easily foolish little brother." Itachi curled a sad smile.

Sasuke swallowed dryly, his eyes furtively staring at the broken plates. "I'm sorry that it ended this way. You were looking forward to have this dinner."

"True, when I organized it I didn't expect any of this would happen, but this was better than flat out ignoring us right? We can catch up the conversation later." Itachi patted Sasuke's shoulder and then noticed something peculiar. "It seems that there's a commotion in the kitchen."

"Huh?" Sasuke muttered, also trailing his vision towards the door. He instantly recognized that color of golden hair.

"C'mon guys, let me go! Let me go I swear, 'm not gonna─" Naruto protested while each of his limb was being held securely by his coworkers. He still managed to drag his body closer to the door, until they all stumbled and fell inside the restaurant.

"You know this young man?" Itachi asked, as he signalized to make the workers free Naruto, as they hurried to return to the service area.

"Sasuke, you're ok?" Naruto jumped upright, his hands holding Sasuke's arms securely.

Itachi perused this turn of events, taking notes of Naruto's concerned expression and Sasuke's reaction. He widened a smile, as this time his pats on his little brother's shoulder contained more energy. "Well, I guess you're in good hands right now, so I better go. We'll talk later Sasuke."

Wordless from shock, Sasuke just acknowledged with a nod as his older brother was out of scenario. How could he had completely forgotten that Naruto worked in this restaurant. He guessed that he was so concerned about this dinner that he overlooked such important point.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

His vision was filled with wide blue eyes. Realization dawned to his head, shame curdling in his body like acid. The reason Naruto looked so worried, why he was so frantic it was because he must have heard his father throwing that tantrum. That also means that the whole staff also heard the commotion, his family drama putting on display was more than humiliating enough.

Sasuke yanked his arms away from Naruto's reach. "I'm fine, thank you."

"But…" Naruto muttered. He suggested then. "Do you want to talk about it, my shift is almost over if you want."

"There's no need, like I've said, I'm fine." Sasuke replied, his hands enveloping himself as he rubbed his arms.

This wasn't enough to placate Naruto, as he insisted. "Let's just go somewhere quiet, I promise you won't need to wait too long."

"I already said I'm fine." The brunet snarled, taking a few steps back. This was embarrassing in every possible level.

"…Sasuke…" Naruto's hands hung on the air, undecided what action he should take. An idea flashed in his mind so he shouted out of nowhere. "Bloody Mary!"

Onyx eyes blinked in confusion.

"I bet your favorite drink is Bloody Mary right?" Naruto grinned hesitantly. "If I'm right, I'll get you one and if I'm not done before you finish the drink, you won't have to wait for me. Deal?"

Sasuke gazed back, relaxing his shoulders. "Hn, just a warning, I'm not going to drink any slower."

"That sounds fair." Naruto beamed, directing Sasuke into the neighboring table. "I'll be right back ok, right back!"

Sasuke sat obediently, when the blond chef used the table cloth to wrap all the broken things inside it, carrying the makeshift bag inside the service area. There were some broken shards of plates lying on the ground, but not having to look at the destruction his father had done alleviated him a little.

Soon after the bartender arrived with the drink, sasuke sipped deep in thought. At the back of his mind he considered breaking this promise and leaving Naruto but he couldn't bring himself to do so. It just didn't sound right.

Luckily for him, he didn't need to muse too long because Naruto was already back, wearing a leather jacket and holding a helmet. "Hey, told you I wouldn't take long. You came here by car?"

"Taxi."

"Oh, then you wouldn't mind taking a ride with me by motorcycle right? I'll drive very safely."

A black eyebrow was raised. "And where are we going?"

The tanned face blanked out. "Errrr…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Forget it."

"How about my house!" Naruto blurted out.

"What?"

"My house." Naruto pointed to himself. "I guess it's only fair that after I invaded yours so many times you could go to mine at least once. How about it?"

There wasn't much to mull over when it was so hard to refuse the hopeful blue eyes. Sasuke followed him outside, approaching a stylish motorcycle as Naruto handed another helmet on his hands.

"Ever rode a motorcycle?" He asked, putting his own helmet on his head.

Sasuke shook his head, imitating the same action.

"I'll drive slower then. Wait, let me see if you fastened tight enough." Naruto removed his helmet to tighten the laces more carefully.

Sasuke stood petrified from the sudden proximity, warm fingers tingling on his chin as he could see in full detail the sapphire eyes concentrated in his work. Naruto asked him to raise his head a little, Sasuke obeyed trying not to squirm on the spot.

With a satisfied nod, Naruto released it with a smile. "There, all done!" Blushing, he finally realized that he was practically nose to nose with Sasuke. Naruto turned around with an awkward laugh, scratching his head. Wearing his helmet, he began adjusting his motorcycle, releasing the sidestand and sitting on it. He threw a backward glance towards the brunet.

Sasuke sat behind, unsure how he should hold onto Naruto, opting to place his hands on his shoulders. Naruto didn't question as they departed, moving more smoothly than usual. The cold wind blew on his face and made him narrow his eyes in reflex, a little uncomfortable but not entirely annoying. Sasuke could smell the fresh cologne coming from him, tamping down the urge to wrap his arms around the well-built torso.

"Hey, you doing alright so far?" Naruto asked when they briefly stopped on a traffic light. Sasuke acknowledged with a nod, so the blond man widened a grin. "So you mind if I speed up a little? It'll get us faster through this traffic jam."

Frowning suspiciously, Sasuke grumbled. "Fine."

"Ok, then it's better if you could put your hands around my waist. It's safer." Naruto said, so with some hesitancy, Sasuke obeyed as requested, each hand placing on each side of Naruto's body. "No no, it's not like that. You should do this alright?" Gloved hands held onto pale ones and he moved them until Sasuke was hugging tightly Naruto from behind.

Before Sasuke could protest, the traffic lights flashed green and Naruto blasted off, the brunet clutching tighter to save his poor life. The speed was still fairly slow but it made the wind colder, as Sasuke buried his face on the broad back, noting a new array of spicy scents, herbs and even a faint smell of olive oil. The warm body, all these fragrances that was uniquely Naruto's calmed him, Sasuke's arms gripped closer onto him.

"Well. Home sweet home." Naruto declared when they finally arrived in his house, turning on the lights as he placed his keys on the counter.

Sasuke examined the place, it was simple with a normal décor and few objects thrown astray but it didn't look too bad.

"Sorry for the mess, you want anything to drink?" Naruto asked, picking up few cups from the drawer. "Or maybe you want something to eat, I remember you didn't eat anything in the restaurant."

The flood of bad memories flushed on Sasuke's face, grumbling mortified. "No, thanks I'm not that hungry." On his cue, his stomach decided to growl very loudly.

Naruto merely grinned. "Right. So you ok with a Teishoku(Japanese meal set)?"

Sasuke glared but didn't protest, sitting near the kitchen table. Naruto cooking was a sight to behold, cutting and mixing the ingredients efficiently and quickly, he couldn't get tired admiring it. Soon enough the blond chef was placing all the small plates on a bigger wooden platter, delivering in front of him.

The moment Sasuke took a bite from the rice and grilled fish, his eyes prickled in this emotional turmoil, the incoming tears were discreetly wiped off with his thumb. His mother used to make the same food, the taste, sensations felt the same, and all the nostalgia with sorrow mixed made it hard to swallow.

"Does it taste good?" Naruto spoke softly, sitting in front of him.

Sasuke gulped down, mumbling. "Yes. Thank you."

Naruto nodded back, taking a sip of his miso shiro. He didn't press on neither tried to question about the previous commotion in the restaurant, choosing to give Sasuke space as they ate.

It was a difficult subject to approach, Sasuke figured he could try starting slowly. "Sorry for what my father did to your restaurant. I promise I'll pay everything back, anything he broke just now."

"Oh, about that? Don't worry, your father would always appear few hours later to apologize to us and he'd pay for everything, even giving us a huge tip for all the trouble." Naruto muttered, scratching his cheek.

Sasuke sighed. "I see. By the way, how did you know I was in your restaurant this time?"

"Well…I work in the kitchen so I never saw my clients ya know. And even when your father was…" Naruto pursed his lips. "difficult, I don't really like prying on someone else's business so I just ignored. But this time I saw you entering the restaurant while I was in the service area. I tried to call you but I think you didn't notice it. So…yeah."

Wordless, Sasuke picked the sliced renkon (lotus root), chewing in languid motions. There was no sign that he wanted to open up neither anything that indicated that he wanted to reject it, so Naruto chose his next steps carefully.

"You know, your father…well, I never saw him face to face but from what I hear in the kitchen he sounded pretty regretful afterwards. But still…I mean." Naruto placed the chopsticks on the table with a sigh. "How can you even stand this. He is your father and all but do you really have to…"

Sasuke raised his head. Somehow, staring at the earnest azure eyes churned his stomach as he grumbled, changing his gaze towards the ground. "You know what, nevermind."

"What? You were almost going to tell me!" Naruto protested. "C'mon, just vent everything, I can take it, it's ok."

"I can't say, it's─it's rude." Sasuke grunted out.

"…huh?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows.

"It's rude. You're an orphan and here I am complaining about my father when you didn't even meet your parents, it feels like I'm being inconsiderate, making a big fuss over noth─"

Naruto interrupted Sasuke's diatribe with a swift hand chop on his head.

"What the hell you dumbass, that hurt!" Sasuke shouted, nursing the injured spot with his hands.

"You're the dumbass, dumbass!"

"What, you want to fight dumb─"

"Now listen here!" Naruto raised his voice even further. "Me being an orphan is about my own issues, my own problems I'm dealing every day! There's no need to compare because each one of our lives is different ok! And I'm actually a bit angry that you just put me like some sad sappy orphan when I got over this situation years ago! So spit it out!"

Sasuke threw his head back with a huff, defeated.

"…He." He tentatively described. "It's not every time he'd throw this tantrum you know. We had this dinner for over an year and you said you work for Bâtard for three years right? You remember that not every dinner ended with him breaking everything on sight."

"Sure but, you don't have to defend him you know."

"I'm not, I'm just stating the facts." Sasuke responded. "It's almost like russian roulette, most times we have really nice enjoyable dinners but sometimes it ends with my father throwing the food to the ground. Some subjects are just too sensitive to be discussed and when it does, it always ended badly."

"But I can't help but to think that…" Naruto bit his lower lip, fidgeting. "Um, can I be really sincere about this?"

"Sure, go on." Sasuke said, taking a sip of his miso shiro.

"That's emotional abuse you know."

A bark of laughter almost escaped through Sasuke's lips, he had always recognized this at the back of his mind but could never admit it. And now, Naruto had stated it out so bluntly, simple like that. "Yes, it is emotional abuse and when we were young it used to be much worse. But we've grown up already, have our own lives and our respective houses, so whenever this happens it doesn't hurt as much as before. I mean, there are still scars from the past, but it's still manageable."

"But then…why do you still accepted your father in your life…when he treated you so badly?"

"He didn't treat me badly."

"There you are again, defending him."

"Yes, he's not a perfect human being, much less a perfect father, this is something we both realized once we grew up. But…there are some things that you finally understand when you reach a certain age, and then I saw that my father just made some choices in his life. Some of them made him regret his entire life, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person. He's just a bad father. He enjoyed having this position of power in ordering us around, that when he realized that we had a will on our own, he wanted to reject this."

"Ah…so your father is the traditional definition of Japanese education." Naruto wondered outloud. "Obey your superior without any question."

Sasuke shrugged. "I guess."

"So I bet he was pretty angry when you started challenging his orders."

Sasuke snorted. "He firstly threatened to throw my big brother out of the house. When my brother actually left on his own to study abroad, he concentrated all his efforts on me. Then I finally got tired of trying to reach his expectations, so I rented the first house I could afford on my own. I had to share a room with some guy that had a new girl to fuck almost every day. It kind of reinforced my belief that I was gay, especially after seeing something extra traumatizing that I'm not going to describe since it burned my retinas to this very day."

Naruto laughed, his voice was pure joy without any intention in being judgmental or condescending, Sasuke could feel giving a small smile in return.

"I can see that your decision was pretty worthwhile. " The blond man teased. "So your father tried to reach you afterwards?"

Sasuke nodded, finishing taking the last sip of the soup and rearranging the empty plates. "He tries to be very open but he still have the habit of ordering us around, expecting that we would just abandon whatever we're doing and come to his aid. It's kind of ironic though…when we were growing up, he always left us aside with the excuse that we should fix whatever issue on our own to build the character, but in truth he didn't want to waste much of his time with us. When we really ended up becoming independent, he was annoyed that we didn't need him in our lives. And now he insists keeping in touch with his stranded sons."

"That's…very selfish of him." Naruto shook his head.

"I suppose."

"You know…if there's something I learned by being an orphan, is that the strongest bonds don't have to be blood related. You can choose, your father doesn't have to be part of your life."

Sasuke frowned. "Well, he was barely part of it the majority of my time."

He tried to block the incoming memories of empty chair in recitals, empty kitchen every morning, utter silence whenever he came home.

"You could have ignored whenever he asked for you to eat dinner with him." Naruto spoke gently.

"It was actually my big brother's idea, he's more mature than both of us combined." Sasuke responded.

He wondered then, the meaning of Naruto's existence in his life. In this period of knowing him, Naruto managed to wedge his way in, a welcome presence coloring his days. No more empty silences…and yet why did he rejected this idea so fiercely?

"And maybe…maybe the reason why I'm accepting these dinners is nowhere noble as you're expecting. It's not about blood relations, because he's my father…maybe I'm just using this opportunity to throw everything back at him, use his weak points, after I suffered in the past…" Sasuke voiced his deepest fears, revealing a darker side.

However, Naruto only hummed in response, his eyes trailing to the ceiling in thought. He pondered. "Well, maybe. But I doubt it's your main reason. When you were a child, you knew the pain of loneliness…"

_Maybe he was so frightened in embarking in this blooming relationship, fearing that he'd break it apart on his undoing…_

"…and now that your father is old, you don't want him to suffer the same, even if he was the reason why you used to feel so lonely."

_…his most primordial tie he had failed so massively, what chances he'd have, to do the same mistake then?_

Naruto patted his shoulder, giving a squeeze of reassurance. "You're a good person Sasuke."

However perhaps he kept waiting a chance for Naruto to pass his judgment, not as someone that could accept his flaws so blindly, but one who understood his grieving and acknowledged that he was just an imperfect human. Sasuke would never had imagined that this resolution could be so… _liberating._

Naruto drove him back to his house in amiable silence, his fingers holding securely on the leather jacket. Closing his eyes as the chilling wind passed through, he allowed Naruto to guide through with noises of motor honking and fleeting lights. Sasuke almost bemoaned when the motorcycle took a halt, signalizing that he arrived at the destination.

He opened the door with his kittens approaching, Naruto cooed when Ashura meowed at him. Sasuke felt a tinge of jealousy seeing this. Did…Ashura actually greeted the blond man first instead of him?

Indra softly bumped his head on his leg.

"I guess it's very late already, I better get going, gotta wake up early tomorrow." Naruto said energetically, holding Ashura on his arms. He gave a last scratch on the chin before releasing the cat, walking back at the entrance as Sasuke followed behind.

"Thank you. For listening all this annoying shit." Sasuke muttered.

"It was nothing and it wasn't annoying at all. Don't worry about it."

Sasuke released a breath he didn't know he was holding, declaring. "Then thanks. Talking with you really…relieved a load off my shoulder."

Upon hearing those sets of words, Naruto's expression softened, his smile showing an unblemished affection and contentment that made Sasuke's heart run miles per second. "I'm happy that you're happy Sasuke. That's all I need."

His hand waved as he was turning around, onyx eyes following the retreating back. There's no reason to falter anymore, taking this dive. Even if a relationship is a risky move towards the unknown, with Naruto this is worthwhile.

_Because Naruto deserves everything and so much more._

"Naruto."

The blond man turned around only to feel Sasuke's lips brushing his own.

Blue eyes blinked rapidly in bewilderment.

"Let's go on a date." Sasuke said, pale hands enveloping the tanned cheeks.

"…date?" Naruto repeated numbly.

"Yes, watching a movie, having lunch, going to a bar…it's your call. It can be on Saturday afternoon, are you free?"

"Uh…we can watch The Jungle Book if you want." He responded, still puzzled.

"Good." Sasuke closed his eyes to savor Naruto's close presence.

"B-but I'm not sure the sessions available so in any case we could watch Batman V Superman if you'd like…"

"Anything is great." Sasuke made their foreheads touch, smiling. The urge to kiss again was too huge to be ignored so his mouth sought the beguiling lips, shivering when Naruto responded with a moan, his tanned fingers sliding to the back of his neck.

He vaguely felt his back bumping on a nearby wall, angling his head to the side to deepen the kiss as Naruto licked his lower lip. Sasuke nibbled his mouth, caution throwing to the wind when the tongue slid in.

Wait, why was he wasting time with this whole dating bullshit? He could just skip this whole bureaucracy and jump straight to the most interesting part. Resolute, Sasuke's hands moved on their own accord, groping blindly till they found the seams of the leather jacket, slithering to feel the warm skin hidden beneath a thin layer of fabric.

However, Naruto released him with a smack of lips, their distance within an arm reach. Sasuke surveyed his handiwork with a hint of pride, from the slight reddened mouth, flushed face to Naruto's glazed eyes. He tried to close in to continue their kissing, but the tanned hands still held him securely on his spot.

"So…see you on Saturday then." Blue eyes avoided to stare at dark gray ones, but Sasuke had none of it.

He managed to peck lightly on Naruto's mouth, fingers beckoning closer by yanking the jacket. Sasuke fumbled to unzip it when Naruto broke the kiss once again, breathing heavily.

"Saturday. I'll call you." He croaked out, darkened eyes staring on his own. The blond man even scampered few steps backwards to avoid falling onto temptation, walking towards his motorcycle.

Sasuke actually waited until Naruto was within a considerable distance when he wondered with a smirk. "I don't think you have my cellphone number."

Naruto immediately sprinted back grumbling under his breath. "You did this on purpose huh."

"Hn." Sasuke brushed his lips in mock apology, his hand resting on the tanned nape.

"Stop distracting me bastard." Naruto growled between peppered kisses.

"It's not my fault when you're so easily distracted." Sasuke taunted, succeeding in unzipping the jacket entirely. Now to get rid of those annoying pants…

Naruto placed a hand above his fly, muttering. "Line."

It was Sasuke's time to get confused. "What?"

"Line, does your cellphone have Line? It's a chat app that I like using it."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "I do have Line but─" instead of wasting time with whatever gadgets, they could use those minutes for more useful things.

"Great! I have my cellphone here, I just need to add yours." Naruto beamed, extracting himself completely out of Sasuke's grasp. When he saw the following glare, he shrugged, raising his hand. "C'mon Sasuke, time is tickin'."

The brunet dropped the cellphone on his palm, brooding as Naruto was occupied adding him in contacts.

Returning the gadget back to Sasuke's hand, Naruto said. "Now that we're all done, I gotta go. See you soon~"

The singsonged tone managed to ruin his mood even further, Sasuke crossed his arms miffed. All of a sudden, a warm mouth slid across his own, his tongue flickering but before Sasuke could capture it with his lips Naruto retreated too soon. He didn't miss the playful glint dancing on the sapphire eyes.

Observing as the blond chef put on his helmet and prepared himself to go, Sasuke spoke. "Don't fall in the middle of the road like the clumsy dumbass that you are moron."

A middle finger was directed towards him in response.

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

Sasuke at first questioned himself the use of this whole date, when he was sure they had already passed through this phase long time ago. However, he was sufficiently mollified upon seeing Naruto in tight fitting jeans and dark orange t-shirt that complimented well his eyes, an unusual shyness displayed when he noticed Sasuke on the appointed place.

He had to admit that he enjoyed watching the movie with Naruto, debating about power levels between Superman and Wonder Woman while drinking some beer Naruto paid for him, their hands linked.

Of course, while this date was nice and all, Sasuke did leave the whole night free for a reason. _A very good reason_. He even left his car in the garage for the opportunity in getting another ride on Naruto's bike, fingers interlaced right on his stomach, thoroughly enjoying this position this entire time.

There wasn't even the need to invite him in, Sasuke knew that Naruto's desires were the same. He fished out his keys from his pocket, all senses heightened in expectancy, while he turned the doorknob. A tanned hand leaned on the door, trapping his body with a husky voice growling on his ear:

"Sasuke..."

" _Fuck yes"_ Sasuke turned around to have his lips assaulted with Naruto's mouth, his tongue already seeking entrance, drawing choked moans from both of them. The blond man briefly paused to open the door as they hurried inside, unnoticing Ashura and Indra surrounding them when Naruto smashed the door close so loud that made the kittens flee away.

With lips still thoroughly attached they wobbled inside the house, Sasuke grunted in pain when his back pressed on the kitchen table. Naruto massaged his lower lip in apology, his own hands enveloping around the lithe body, holding him close. Tilting his head, Sasuke delved deeper inside his mouth while he savored Naruto's pliant taste. He tried to push on the general direction of his bedroom, but it was proving to be a hard task when they were too occupied in exploring their mouths.

Naruto stumbled forward, hands seizing Sasuke's shirt as he fell on the couch. Sasuke frowned a bit, not the best choice for their first time but that might be enough for now. Heartbeats raced staring at the lustful sapphire eyes as Naruto dove close, his lips brushing. He retreated briefly to drop another kiss on Sasuke's mouth, applying more pressure and adding the sweetness. With another wet smack of lips, Naruto readily opened his mouth and let their tongues met slickly, his hips undulating with Sasuke's growing erection.

Everything he wanted to do at this moment was to let this passion consume them completely, strip this gorgeous man until there was only skin to skin contact. He let his hands roam on the broad chest, slithering inside the t-shirt and caressing the bronzed skin. However, Naruto clasped both of his wrists, mumbling.

"I think I heard Ashura yowling."

"Huh?" Sasuke muttered back, head too clouded in anything that it's not related in undressing his lover and kissing those supple lips.

"I said I heard Ashura meowing." Naruto repeated, placing Sasuke's hands on each side of his body.

Sasuke hummed, letting his teeth sink softly on Naruto's lower lip. He soothed with some licks, grumbling. "It's nothing."

"Nothing? I mean, Indra is also joining on this chorus…"

Sasuke growled with increasing urgency, wholly disliking the lack of contact towards his mouth. "It's nothing, it's usually this time they're eating dinner, so they are asking me to fill their bowl." He'd just have to give them food later.

"What? You can't leave them hungry like that! C'mon Sasuke." Naruto stood up at once, hopping off the coach.

Sasuke blinked. What?

Ignoring his lover and also the massive hard-on Sasuke was sporting, Naruto went to retrieve the cat food, pouring on their bowl as the kittens meowed cheerfully.

What? _What?_ This is seriously not happening right now.

Sasuke also sat up to observe Naruto interacting with his kittens. There was no way he was just cockblocked by his own cats, this dumbass couldn't possibly leave him hanging. Sasuke walked to see Ashura and Indra emptying their food bowls, Naruto observing them with a kind smile.

Silently, Sasuke pushed his shoulder to make Naruto face him, mouth pressing in to catch his breath. Naruto let out a happy sigh when his body bumped on the corridor wall, fingers lacing to rest on Sasuke's small back. They stood on the same spot enjoying their lips stuck together, flushed faces tilting with noses softly bumping to let their tongues mingle with growing desire. Aroused, Sasuke let his fingers explore Naruto's torso, marveling the hard etches and the hot skin expanding on his palm.

Naruto grabbed his hands once again, breaking their kiss. "Wait."

"Why wait." Sasuke grumbled as he latched on the tanned neck, thrusting his hips forward.

Naruto bit out a moan, the obvious bulge on Sasuke's jeans also made his own pants tighten in need. "Aren't we going too fast this whole thing? I mean, it's our first date─"

"Pretty sure our first date was when you decided to cook breakfast for me the first time." Encouraged, Sasuke licked on the tanned column downwards, sucking hard.

"Sasuke, wait." Naruto smacked both pale cheeks to catch his attention. He almost laughed when the brunet looked like some pissed off cat just coming out of a shower. "I'm serious here."

"So am I. Now take your clothes off." Sasuke attempted to resume their passionate activities, but Naruto halted once again, blue eyes skittish staring at the ground.

"Still. I mean we don't have to hurry into things. Um, should we?"

Sasuke was taken aback. They were practically living together for months and Naruto wanted to _move slow??_

"Why are you hesitating?" Sasuke cleared his throat, sobering a little.

The other man shook his golden hair. "I'm not hesitating! It's just that, I think we're going too fast? I mean─and then when we're done─uh…shit do I sound like a girl right now…"

It took few extra seconds to add two with two, until Sasuke comprehended Naruto's faltering actions at last. His hands cupped Naruto's face, making sure their eyes would maintain a connection, not wanting to create any kind of doubt or misunderstanding. "Naruto, I'm not looking for a casual fling here."

Before Naruto could voice anything back, he received a chaste kiss that was equally reassuring and candid, their eyelids shuttering close in response. "You sure?"

"Hn, you dumbass." Sasuke's lips curled into a faint smirk. "You really think that I'd waste my time just to play around with a moron like you?"

"Now aren't you asking me to punch your prissy ass face, asshole?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.

Sasuke snorted. With his eyes still trained towards Naruto's he declared. "I mean it. Talking with you, getting to know you…it's been a great experience for me. I don't want this to last only one or two nights Naruto…I want to keep this, for as long as I can."

Blue eyes widened in wonder, his heart aching with unbridled joy as emotions flowed within his core. Gingerly, with arms resting on his shoulders, Naruto gave a tender kiss , whispering close to his lips. "As long as possible?"

Sasuke nodded back. "Besides, I'm not going to waste the chance of having a 5-star chef cooking breakfast exclusively for me."

"Is that why you like keeping me around?" Naruto grinned.

"Among other things." Sasuke recaptured his mouth, entering with a swirl of his tongue.

Every last residues of hesitancy were gone, as Naruto's legs shifted wide to let Sasuke's body settle in between, eliminating any of their remaining distance.

"Good, now that we had cleared up this issue, are you going to take your clothes off?" Sasuke deadpanned.

"Sasuke!" Naruto protested.

"You don't want this?"

"I do, I do want this very badly!" Naruto nodded frantically. "I mean, but─"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke took two steps back, undoing his fly and shoving his pants and boxers to the ground. Naruto's mouth gone bone dry staring at the reddened head of his erection.

Removing his shirt, Sasuke closed in with his hand slithering in Naruto's pants. "Well, looks like you're not exactly disliking this either." He smirked.

"Hard not to, after seeing something like that." Naruto grouched, his cock thrusting into Sasuke's hand. He stripped his t-shirt, shuddering with the hot touch of their bodies.

Sasuke barely managed to unzip his jeans when Naruto grinded with his erection. Gasping from the pleasurable sensations, Sasuke fervently responded in the same kind, carnal fire increasing with the friction. He's not going to last long if this keeps building further; Sasuke barely registered as tanned hands groped on his ass cheeks, fingers sinking on the soft flesh.

Somehow they finally managed to stumble in his bedroom, Sasuke falling onto his bed as Naruto followed suit, getting rid of the last article of his clothing. Mouths reattached, they resumed their grinding with the new body position adding the friction of their hard cocks.

"Condoms." Sasuke managed to gasp out. "Where's the condoms and lube?"

Naruto groaned, quickening the rhythm of their cocks sliding sinuously together. "I didn't…bring aaah─any…"

"What?!" The new information input actually halted Sasuke's thrusts, Naruto moaned from the loss. "Are you serious you dumbass?!"

"I thought this was the first date, we wouldn't go this far!" Naruto rebutted.

Sasuke huffed, then pointed on his drawer. "Third on the right." He used this opportunity to ogle on tanned ass when Naruto turned around to pick it up.

"Both are getting close to the expiry date."

Shifting a little embarrassed, Sasuke growled. "So?"

Naruto merely smiled, pouring lube on his hand and pumping Sasuke's hard cock. "Nothing. I'm glad."

Dropping a kiss on Sasuke's neck, he let his tongue make a beeline towards the pale chest, letting his teeth lightly scrape the pinkish nipple. Sasuke moaned when his mouth tightened around the hard nub, while it felt good he wanted that obnoxious mouth somewhere else. He cupped Naruto's face for another searing kiss, tanned hands traveled to grip both cocks, thrusts swirling in ardent desire.

He couldn't get tired of the sight of Naruto's striking face flushed, gasping for air. He shuddered with one more thrust of their cocks pressed so intimately together, pre-cum dampening their hands and sliding more fluidly, heightening its speed. His own hands traveled to grab tightly the tanned buttocks, feeling it contract with each grind, Naruto was moving so fervently that Sasuke could swear that his bed was going to have a permanent imprint of his body.

"W─wait." Sasuke panted when Naruto sucked hard on his neck. "Who is going to─or─"

His lover lifted his head, a gorgeous smile lit on his face as he caressed the pale cheeks with his thumb. "I don't care Sasuke. I'm just─so happy we're doing this that I'm fine with whatever you decide. Seriously."

Strong, vivid heartbeats expanded on his chest, Sasuke's own fingers brushed on Naruto's lips. The tanned face gradually approached as they closed their eyes…

"Meow."

They both froze, noticing Ashura sitting on the pillow on the right, staring back at him. Naruto scratched his head, picking the kitten to his arms. "Ashura, I think now is not the time for you to be here." He placed the cat outside the bedroom and closed the door, turning back to the bed.

And saw his lover kneeling, his hands placed on the wall, slightly bent to show his perfect ass.

"Um, Sasuke?" Naruto mumbled, a string of fluid leaking from his cock when he saw such arousing vision.

The pale face flushed deep red, Sasuke grumbled. "It's easier for me to prep in this position. It's been…a while." He gasped when the wet cock slid between his ass cheeks, Naruto turned his neck to give a deep, amorous kiss.

"I promise I'll make it worthwhile." He said, pecking his lips again.

"Hn, you better." Sasuke smirked, his whole body tensing in expectation when he heard the noise of lube cap opening.

Naruto dropped a kiss on his back as his hands kneaded his buttocks. One hand skimmed through the hard thighs, briefly playing with his sacks before gripping his cock. Sasuke hissed, his hips rolling to match the pleasurable pumps. One finger gently pressed on the puckered entrance, noticing the slight resistance. Naruto let his hand slide through the sensitive area, giving pleasant tingles to his lover, until he was reassured Sasuke was used to this touch. He coated more lube on his hand, waiting the brunet to take a deep breaths before he breached smoothly, careful in not hurting him.

The first finger was never a big issue for Sasuke, but he still needed some extra adjusting. Once Naruto saw that he was comfortable enough, he began slide in and out, staring his digit sinking inside that heated channel, his hard cock pulsed in anticipation. His vision was hazy when another finger joined in until Naruto gnawed the pale back, gazing the way it left a reddened mark on the unblemished skin.

Closing his eyes to grasp some of his self-control, Naruto continued let his fingers sink in, patiently waiting till Sasuke was relaxed enough. He felt the constriction loosening, as he aided by prying his fingers apart inside the tight ring of muscles.

Sasuke croaked out. "Naruto, I need you now."

Naruto bit his lower lip, ripping the packet and wrapped the condom on his cock, stroking few pumps. One hand gripped his erection and another held the pale shoulder as Naruto slowly guided it in. Onyx eyes screwed shut as Sasuke willed himself to relax, panting as he felt the wide girth pushing further in his ass. Such intimate connection wasn't something he yielded to anyone, and doing this with Naruto only enhanced the emotional fulfillment that filled him to the brim. His blond lover halted for a second, before thrusting deeper and drawing a long moan from Sasuke until it was fully sheathed in.

Gasping completely breathless, Sasuke opened his fists, seeing indents on his palm from his blunt nails. His head swan from smoldering heat, being stretched so widely that he felt completely full inside out. Naruto still stood unmoving, also panting from the building desire.

"Naruto…" Sasuke keened, pleading tone evident.

"Sorry." Naruto groaned, resting his forehead on the pale back and nuzzling a little. "It's just that…it feels _so amazing_ ─"

Sasuke licked his dry lips, his ass pushing backwards as large hands grabbed as leverage. The hard cock slowly drew out, until Naruto thrust in almost gently, repeated this movement over and over.

Heat pooled on his groin, bringing the desire of ruthlessly fuck that ass, but Naruto wasn't going to surrender to his selfish desires. With controlled thrusts, he angled in different spots, studying which one would make his lover gasp louder, moan longer.

Finding one particular spot, he listened Sasuke's moans were increasing with each thrust. Naruto drew out and switfly sunk deep in his ass as Sasuke shouted his name, shivering. "Yes─yes─There─"

Naruto placed each hand above the pale ones and interlacing their fingers, picking up the pace. "Like─that─?"

There was a short nod when Sasuke arched his back, his midnight hair falling on the sun-kissed shoulder as Naruto penetrated him, hard and rough, exactly how he loved to be fucked.

Everything was _indescribable,_ the hot body draped on his own, cock stimulating his prostate and warm puffs on his ear as Naruto continuously whispered words of praise. Sweat was already slickening their bodies, an intense musky scent permeating in the air as Naruto sped up, balls wetly smacking with each thrust. One hard plunge sent his senses haywire as he shouted in ecstasy, few strings of liquid spurting from the slit of his cock.

His hazed mind registered Naruto pulling out of him, already feeling an emptiness as his anus tried to grasp for more. The blond man turned him around to face him, dropping a kiss on his swollen lips.

"I really wanted to see you." Naruto smiled apologetically, humping their cocks together.

Not trusting himself to be coherent enough to formulate any word, Sasuke simply pinched the tanned cheek, earning a breathless laugh from his lover. He adjusted his erection to impale him once again and when the tip was already in, placing his hands on each side of the dark head, Sasuke let out a exquisite sigh when Naruto pushed inside.

His thumbs rubbed the pale thighs in circular motions, widening further as Sasuke's ass was raised to the air. He placed his tanned legs below so it wouldn't be too tiring, Naruto's upper body crawling closer towards the flushed face. His hips still pulsated slowly to maintain the friction, with the reddened erection resting on the taut stomach that glistened with pre-cum. Wet hair obscured his dark eyes, so Naruto pushed the bangs back to admire Sasuke's gorgeous face. His pale arms raised to approach him with another kiss as his mouth devoured the full lips, Naruto caressed almost reverently his entire body.

Naruto then pulled and pushed in one deep thrust, Sasuke's fingers squeezing the muscled arms to steady himself. One glance on Sasuke's enraptured expression, he began gliding in delicious pace, grunts and moans filling in the room. Naruto could feel the last vestiges of his control slipping away when he was literally ramming all the way in, gazing the way his cock was sliding in and out of the loosen hole. An intense ache infiltrated through his veins like liquid fire, his balls slapping ruthlessly on Sasuke's ass.

Sasuke's legs wrapped around Naruto's waist, heels digging on the sun-kissed buttocks. Blunt nails scratched on his back adding some pain in this mix of hunger and ecstasy as Sasuke was brimming close to the edge, so he whispered on the tanned earlobe. "─Close?"

His answer was a guttural growl that sharpened his entire body to his most animalistic senses.

Sasuke hurriedly stroked his erection, Naruto's hand joining in. The rhythm became disjointed with the urgency of riding to the peak, hips moving so fast that Sasuke couldn't recover his breaths, the fervent sensation spiraling out of control. He came with a loud scream, a white noise buzzing his head and making his toes curl. His blue eyes screwed shut, Naruto's orgasm surged with one wild thrust while hands squeezed hard Sasuke's ass. He still gave few lingering thrusts before releasing and collapsing next to Sasuke, as they breathed heavily staring each other. Naruto was first to recover, kissing chastely the thin lips before he removed the condom and threw in a nearby trash can. Sasuke however, appeared to be needing few extra minutes to gain any small amount of rationality.

Naruto gazed amusedly his boyfriend's chest still heaving heavily, poking his arm. "Hey, you alright there? Need some mouth-to-mouth to help you out?"

Sasuke's weak glare showed that this little joke was very much _not_ appreciated.

Undaunted, Naruto hopped to lay next to him, yanking Sasuke's arm. "Don't die on me Sasuke! We still have so many rounds of sex to do in the future! You can do it!"

Sasuke huffed, his eyes was still blearily blinking in response.

Naruto mused, one hand stroking his chin. "Then again, it'd be pretty cool if they wrote on your tombstone 'Death by awesome sex with Uzumaki Naru─OW!"

Apparently, Sasuke still had enough energy to deliver a painful slap on Naruto's leg.

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

Having sex with Naruto was an out of the body experience, as Sasuke had a first-hand experiment in testing his limits. This freak of nature was already ready for round two while Sasuke was still trying to regain a bare minimum of conscience, but fortunately the condoms and lube were out of stock so Naruto went to buy more as Sasuke frantically searched ways to shorten his refractory period.

After the 4th…or 5th time with Naruto riding his dick, they rested at last, all energies spent. Every inch of his skin tingled from exhaustion, but it was a nice ache, the type Sasuke wouldn't mind repeating in the future.

And thus Sasuke woke up with noises of his doorknob rattling when Indra, the ever smart cat managed to pry the door open and both kittens jumped on his bed. The black cat sat on his chest, staring him down for a while, until Ashura tackled him and they began fighting right in the middle of the bed.

Sasuke sighed, adjusting his head on Naruto's arm. It's time to buy a round doorknob afterwards.

After few extra hours of blissful sleep, he was slowly awaken with Naruto trying to catch his attention.

"Sasuke, pssst." Naruto murmured.

Sasuke rubbed his eyelids. "What? Can you move a little, it's kind of hot now."

"Yeah, that's the problem…Indra sat on my arm."

"So move him aside."

"I can't! What if he claws my eyeballs out?"

Sasuke threw a deadpan stare. "He's not going to do that you dumbass."

"But he's not blinking! He's like…staring into my soul." Naruto frantically whispered.

Snorting, Sasuke shooed his black cat away, as Indra hopped off his bed. Naruto made a contented sigh as he cuddled closer to his boyfriend, inhaling his nice scent.

─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─.─

Naruto grunted when rays of sunlight filtered their way in, door opening and brightening the room. He felt Sasuke's warm body leaving him, walking to the living room followed with few meows from his cats.

Figuring that there's no point of delaying anymore, Naruto also blinked his eyes wide as he stretched his limbs. He picked up any nearby sweatpants to dress up, strolling outside the bedroom.

"Morning!"

Sasuke heard the energetic noise as Naruto sauntered close, feeling the heat radiating from the blond man when he crouched down.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke leaned awaiting. Nothing happened. He reopened just to witness Naruto kissing the top of Ashura's head.

His incredulous expression must have been quite evident on his face because the dumbass actually laughed, giving him a cheeky peck on his lips that mollified him just a bit.

“I think I never told you but I have the hots for guys with cats.”

Sasuke felt one corner of his lip twitch in amusement. “Is this why you're always around?”

"Among other things." Naruto admitted with a wide grin, kissing him again. "What time is it now?"

"Late enough for my stomach to demand a brunch. Are you up to this task?"

Naruto snorted haughtily and went to grab his stool and his ingredients.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF IT'S OVER YAAAAY─


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